From the Start
by Forever Free Evergreen
Summary: A what if fic showing what might have happened if Kurt was introduced in the first film instead of the second R
1. I

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Xmen trilogy just the words below._

_This is a 'What if' fic showing what it might have been like if Kurt was already at the institute before Rogue & Wolverine showed up. Depending on its popularity I might write it through all three films or just stop it after the first if it gets to that point._

_That said enjoy_

_~#~_

**Chapter I**

_An elderly man in a wheelchair rolled through the entrance to the old church flanked on his left by a man wearing a visor on his left and a red haired woman on his right. The inside of the church was bare and the cloud cover outside seemed to darken the shadows and rafters making them appear endless. A strange sound could be heard followed by a voice._

"_Get out!" It cried in a hollow scary voice as if trying to frighten its guests before speaking again from somewhere else making it seem like there was more than one._

"_Leave here!"_

_The man in the wheelchair raised one hand to stop the man from reaching for his visor for some reason before talking to the mysterious voice._

"_You do not have to hide Mister Wagner" He called out._

"_Zere is no von here by zat name!"_

"_Zere is no von here but us!"_

"_Zere vas no von here but us before you arrived!"_

"_But if you don't leave now-"_

"_Zen you von't leave ever!"_

"_So get out!"_

_Before each voice spoke the strange sound was emitted and if one were to sniff the air near each location the voice came from they would notice the stench of sulphur and brimstone. The man in the wheelchair, despite looking patient and calm, apparently was getting tired of this act as he raised a hand to his temple. However it appeared that he was doing something else because the voices now sounded a bit panicked._

"_Vhat are you doing?!"_

"_Stop zat!"_

"_Nien!"_

"_Please stop!"_

_Suddenly in a puff of bluish black smoke appeared a young man clutching his head. His clothes looked a little ragged but it was his skin and features that made the man and woman at the elders sides that made them nearly take a half step back. His hands had three fingers whilst his feet had two toes, he had a prehensile tail, elfish ears, yellow eyes, fangs and blue skin with strange tattoos._

"_Perhaps we can now continue our conversation Mister Wagner" the man said._

_#~#_

Kurt Wagner yawned widely as he awakened from his dream, had someone walked past just then they would have jumped at the display of white fangs he was revealing however since he was currently sitting in the rafters of the entrance hall to the institute. Slipping off the beam he had recently been napping on Kurt landed gracefully and strolled leisurely down the hall towards the rec room as he remembered his dream.

Several weeks short of a year ago the twenty one year old had been found in an abandoned church by a Professor Charles Xavier and offered sanctuary at his institute for children such as himself. After being given a brief history lesson about the school and about a special team he had created to find other mutants like himself as well as combat those who would and are using their powers to destroy the yet to be constructed bridge between humans and mutants known as the X-men Kurt accepted the offer.

Now here he was, clad in a shirt and cut-offs with a rosary attached to his belt jingling with each step, a new addition to the X-men team and language teacher to the younger students walking down the halls of his new home. Hearing rushed footsteps behind him Kurt gasps as a brunette suddenly walks through him before turning round so that she was walking backwards to stick her tongue out at him.

"_Gott en Himmel_ _Miss_ Pryde must you do zat?" he asked of her making the girl stop.

"Must you always pop into existence right beside me _Mister_ Wagner?" she threw back a playful smile on her lips.

Kurt grinned himself. He and Katherine Pryde, or Kitty as everyone here called her, had been friends since she had shown up nearly a month after he had arrived. Despite a rocky start, due mostly to his looks, the two had become fast friends and were rarely seen without the other even after Kurt had become an X-man whilst Kitty had to wait until she was eighteen.

"Oh you mean like..." Kurt teleported to right in front of her. "Zis?"

Kitty squealed slightly as she stepped back, tripped over her own feet and vanished into the floor.

"Oops" He muttered before he felt Kitty's arms wrap round him from behind and attempt to strangle him whilst the two began laughing.

After several moments Kurt continued on walking whilst giving Kitty a piggyback down to the rec room. Kitty meanwhile rested her head on his shoulder enjoying the peace between them. Ever since coming to the institute Kitty had thought the only friend she would have was Miss Grey the person she looked up to like a big sister. After getting scared by Kurt's sudden appearance and _appearance_ she had talked to him about how he could cope being different he had answered saying that the lord was watching over him and that everyone in the institute looked out for him. Since then they would hang out after classes and talk about their days or help one another with their respective homework. When Kurt was accepted as an X-men Kitty playfully told him to get used to being the boss of her before she became an X-men herself which was little under a month away now.

Upon reaching their destination they were greeted by silence,frowns and scared looks from the rooms inhabitants. On the television there had apparently just been a live council talk in which the subject must have been about them.

"What's happened?" Kitty asked to the room in general.

"Kelly just flipped off Miss Grey's talk about us just being kids with more unique abilities and declared us as dangerous" Bobby Drake told them.

'_Of course' _Kurt thought to himself._ 'Ze Professor and Jean had left to go to Vashington today to speak at ze gathering'_

"Jean was on T.V and you didn't bother to tell me?" Kitty asked Bobby or rather interrogate him.

Kurt could not help but chuckle. If it was concerning himself or Jean Grey Kitty just had to be part of it. He was looking forward to his first class with her as a member of his class instead of a study partner. Kurt suddenly noticed that one of the boys in the corner of the room was glaring at the T.V with pure malice whilst flicking his lighter open and closed.

"I wish I was there when he called us dangerous" He muttered as he opened his lighter lit it then moved the flame into his hand. "I would have gladly proven I was most"

The teen was suddenly startled when Kurt teleported in front of him and grabbed both his hands in his own, ignoring the pain he felt when he extinguished the flame as he grabbed the boys hand and the gasps and stifled screams from the rest of the room.

"Zen you would have played right into zeir hands Mister Allerdyce" Kurt growled at him. "Zose people can only _bark_ at ze moment, however if some von like you rise to zeir bait and attack zen zey can _bite _in self defence in fair play as zey say"

Kurt let go of the now scared John Allerdyce and spoke to the room in general in a grave tone. "Zat goes for all of you as vell, as long as ve ignore zere vords zen nozzing bad vill happen"

The room was silent as they took in his words. Seeing all the sad faces Kurt fixed a happy face on before talking again.

"Now as Mister Drake said ve, vell you lot, are all kids and kids should be outside on a glorious day like zis" He said what was hoped in a cheerful voice. "So get out zere and ve'll start a game of baseball mutant style or you can let Drill Sergeant Summers give you a fitness exercise, Gott knows you need it if all you do is vatch ze T.V all day"

A chorus of cheers and laughter followed his speech before everyone except for Kitty and Bobby left the room and headed for the field outside. After they all left Kurt slumped into one of the now vacant chairs his mood now matching his skin colour.

"Sorry about John sir" Bobby said as he and Kitty walked over to him.

"Do not apologise for your friends' behaviour Mister Drake" Kurt replied as he looked up. "And _please _don't call me sir_"_

The trio laughed at that. Bobby then took Kurt's burnt hand and placed a layer of ice over it before Kitty wrapped a cooling pad on top of it.

"See ya's outside!" Bobby called over his shoulder as he left to join the others leaving Kurt and Kitty alone in the room.

Kitty seeing the opportunity placed herself in Kurt's lap and took his injured hand in her own whilst the blue mutant shifted himself so that they were both comfy.

"Do you think what you said is true?" she whispered to him as she lay her head on his shoulder.

"Most definitely" Kurt replied putting his uninjured arm around her shoulders. "And ze vorst zing is zat zere are more mutants like Allerdyce out zere vho vill make true of zere threat"

"You were great by the way" Kitty complimented. "You kept your cool, taught us an important lesson and changed the subject to something we like whilst joking about Scott's military manners"

"Just pray that none of the kids tell him about that or he'll use _you_ for target practice" Ororo said as she walked into the room. "And the girl's right, you did well there"

"Danke" Kurt mutter whilst his face turned slightly purple before looking at Kitty who had shot out of his lap the moment she heard Ororo's voice. "And I meant vhat I said about zat fitness exercise so get going"

Kitty nodded before quickly pecking him on the cheek and running through the wall to the outside.

"Sorry if I interrupted anything" Ororo apologised as she sat down on the seat beside him. She had seen those two become closer each day and it reminded her about Scott and Jean's blooming relationship.

Kurt just waved it off with his uninjured hand. "Even if I vanted to do something intimate vith her I'll have to vait until she is declared an adult in ze vorlds eyes"

"If only there were more men like you Kurt" She mock sighed making both of them laugh.

"Vell as much as I vould like to spend more time vith you Storm" Kurt said as he stood up. "I have a game to referee so until next ve meet, auf wiedersehen"

With that he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ororo shook her head as she got up to find Scott, he had probably seen the meeting as well and was now blowing off steam imagining that each clay pigeon he shot was Senator Kelly.

_~#~_

_R&R so I know whether to continue this fic or not_

'_Til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out._


	2. II

_Disclaimers on chapter I_

**Chapter II**

_Kitty cautiously followed Jean into the main hall of the mansion. She was torn between gazing around the mansion in awe or watching several guys walk by each of them delectable candy on their own; until one sneezed and his whole body sprouted feathers making her lose interest._

_Jean, sensing the girls unrest, smiled encouragingly at her. Kitty smiled weakly back before following the older woman toward the Professor's study. She froze when she heard someone speak to them; rather justified when she could not see the speaker._

"_Guten tag Frau Grey" The voice said cheerfully. "I see you have found another lost lamb for our ever growing flock"_

_Kitty's head whipped round trying desperately to locate the source of the voice. Feeling something tap her on the shoulder she turned round to see a blue prehensile tail go rise into the shadows of the roof where she could see a pair of glowing yellow eyes._

"_Kurt stop scaring Kitty and get down before I bring you down" Jean called up to the thing with yellow eyes._

_The person called Kurt obliged gracefully somersaulting from the rafters before disappearing in a puff of dark blue smoke and reappearing in front of the two girls. Unfortunately his appearance, coupled with his looks, scared Kitty so bad that she fell backwards over her travel bag and disappeared into the floor below. Her luck was not getting better as below where they were standing was the Danger Room, so when Kitty came out of the floor, or rather the ceiling, she was falling towards the ground twenty odd feet below her._

_Before she had a chance to scream she was engulfed in a familiar dark blue cloud and a pair of arms before she felt like she was being sucked through a straw before suddenly finding herself back where she was before that guy had scared her._

"_Kitty are you ok?" Jean asked as she hugged the shaking teen._

_Kitty could only nod as she wrapped her arms around the older woman. She looked over her shoulder to see her saviour looking rather sorry for what he had done. Before she could even try and thank him he disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke._

"_That was Kurt Wagner, he arrived here about a month ago" Jean explained to the girl. "He may look different but his personality and sense of humour more than makes up for it" _

_Kitty just remained silent despite just meeting him she could tell that he was not expecting her to fall through the floor._

"_Had you landed on the floor he would have laughed before helping you up then take your things to your room as an apology, it's his way of showing someone that we're still like normal people despite the extra gifts and appearances" she heard Jean tell her. "You going through the floor instead caught him by surprise so don't be too shocked if he's a bit uncomfortable around you for a while"_

"_Uncomfortable?" Kitty echoed not getting what she meant._

"_Whilst he likes to joke about he never does anything that has lasting effects" Jean explained. "It makes him feel terrible about what he's done afterwards"_

"_Oh" Kitty muttered looking down at her feet. She could not help but feel terrible herself for what had happened._

_#~#_

"Strike three!" Kurt hollered "You're out!"

Ray grumbled as he walked off to the benches whilst Sam stepped up to the plate. The pitcher, Roberto, smirked before pulling his arm back as far as he could before throwing it towards Piotr who was the pitching team's catcher. Sam swung hard and sent the ball over the left field before speeding off like a cannonball towards the first plate. The left fielder, Rahne, morphed into her wolf form and chased after the ball catching it skilfully in her mouth before it hit the ground.

"You're out!" Kurt yelled over the cheers and groans the teams' were giving.

Sam, who had shot past the first plate as he skidded to a stop, jogged back to the bench clapping at Rahne for a good catch. Rahne morphed back into her human form before smiling at the blond teen then threw the baseball back to Roberto who grimaced as his hand got covered in drool from the baseball being in the Scottish girl's mouth.

"It's just a little drool you big baby" Kitty said to the teen as she stepped up to the plate.

Roberto smiled at the girl before bursting into flames leaving only a pitch-black figure that looked like him amidst a bright flame. Kitty focused herself as she heard Piotr's metal armour clank into place behind her. Despite hitting Roberto's under arm thrown ball it went clear through it and a deafening clang was heard as Piotr caught it in his mitt. Unfortunately the amount of power behind the throw sent Piotr flying backwards and through a cloud of blue smoke indicating that Kurt had just managed to teleport himself out of harm's way whilst the catcher went skidding another ten feet before stopping.

"Strike von!" Kurt yelled from atop the safety cage whist Kitty chucked away her _holey_ bat and skilfully caught a replacement Amara thrown her.

Piotr, still in armour form, threw the ball back to Roberto who stumbled back a few steps in order to keep his balance when he caught it. Performing another under arm throw in his powered up form the speeding projectile stopped suddenly right in front of Kitty who sent it clear over the boundaries.

"Home run!" Kurt declared before turning in the direction of where Kitty was running to see a woman with red hair walking towards the field. "Time out! Every von go cool off"

No one complained as they all headed off in the direction of the kitchen for a cold drink or to their dorms for a cold shower. Kurt meanwhile teleported to where Kitty and Jean were hugging.

"Muzzer and daughter reunited at long last, how romantic" He joked before suddenly finding himself upside-down a foot off the ground.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't throw you in the pool Kurt" Jean said whilst she tried not to smile Kitty was no better as she had clamped her hands over her mouth to stop herself from giggling out loud.

"Because I vill teleport from ze pool to your room" Kurt answered smiling and was promptly dropped on his head whilst the girls tried to stop laughing.

"Only you Kurt" Jean said as she sobered. "Only you could make a person smile after a bad day"

"Vith dark skies ahead of us every moment of sunshine should be enjoyed and full of laughter" Kurt said as he rubbed his sore head.

"I hate it when you do that" Kitty said as she hugged herself as if shivering in an unseen snowstorm. Kurt looked at her in confusion. "You act like a child one minute then suddenly grow into a wise old man the next"

She jumped slightly as Kurt suddenly teleported right behind her and tickled her ribs causing the girl scream out loud.

"Vould an _old man_ do this?" Kurt asked as he mercilessly attacked the girl's sides with his fingers whilst his tail wrapped itself round her waist to prevent her from escaping. He only stopped when Jean coughed loudly.

"As much as I would like to leave you two to your _bonding_ moments" She smiled when she saw the two of them blush at her implications as they separated. "But I'm afraid the Professor's looking for you Kurt. Care to tell us what you did _this _time?"

"I assure you zat I have not been anyvhere near your _mannlich's_ bike since last time" Kurt quickly put in whilst Kitty nearly doubled over in laughter as she remembered last time.

When Kurt had became an X-men he celebrated by stuffing the exhaust pipes of Scott's bike with confetti so when Scott revved it up his bike it sent out a cloud of valentine coloured confetti causing all who saw the spectacle to collapse with aching sides. He got an earful from a vivid Scott and a warning from the Professor despite the fact that the latter was having trouble trying to stop from breaking a smile during the talk.

"I should hope not" Jean said whilst trying not to laugh herself over the incident. "And Scott is _not_ my husband"

"_Yet_" Kurt replied before teleporting away before he found himself upside-down again leaving a red faced Jean and a breathless Kitty due to laughing too much.

"One of these days your _boyfriend's_ going to get his comeuppance" Jean muttered to Kitty as she walked back to the mansion.

"And you'll be hoping to be there when he gets it right?" Kitty asked before realising what her big sister had said. "Whoa, hold on! Kurt's not my boyfriend"

"For the moment" Jean agreed leaving a spluttering, red faced Kitty standing in the middle of the entrance to the mansion.

_~#~#~_

Kurt reappeared in front of the doors to the Professor's study chuckling softly at his parting comment to Jean. He raised his hand to knock yet before he could bring his hand to the oak door.

'_Kurt you do not need to appear outside and knock before coming in'_

"_Gott en Himmel"_ Kurt muttered as he clutched his chest before opening the door. "Zat scares me every time you do zat Herr Professor"

"Whilst I apologise for the scare and commend you for your respect to me" The Professor replied. "You can safely teleport _into_ my study without worrying about scaring me; you could say I'm harder to scare with my powers"

Kurt stared wide eyed at the Professor whilst Ororo and Scott tried to hide their laughter behind fits of coughing. If he did not know better he could have sworn the Professor had issued a challenge to him one he did not know if he had the courage to accept.

"Before we start with the more serious matters" The Professor began. "I heard that you gave the students a good lesson today about what not to do with the people against mutants and I want to congratulate you for your first unofficial lesson"

"I assume Frau Munroe told you zat?" Kurt asked the Professor whilst shooting the weather witch a curious glance.

"It was actually from several of the students I passed on the way to my study, apparently your little speech is the talk of the mansion at the moment" The Professor answered. "Even before you joined the ranks of the X-men the younger students looked to you for guidance so it doesn't surprise me that they listen to you"

"Makes us eager to see how you handle your first class as a teacher instead of a pupil" Scott injected grinning at Kurt.

"If zat is ze Lord's vay of humiliating me zen I vill accept vithout complaint" Kurt countered although he was smiling in anticipation.

"Now then" The Professor said causing them all to sober up and pay attention; it was rare to be asked into the Professor's study by the man himself just for a bit of light gossip and this was no exception. "Due to Senator Kelly's statement earlier today it will be safe to assume that Magneto will be stepping up his attempts to overrule the population and accelerate his plans if he has any"

"Any ideas on what he might be up to?" Ororo asked.

"Not at the moment" The Professor answered. "However Cerebro reports that Sabertooth is currently in the remote parts of Canada searching for someone"

"Vhat makes you say zat?" Kurt asked curious as to what the behemoth would be doing in a remote area; it was highly unlikely that he was taking a stroll through the woods.

"There are two other mutant signatures in the area, a girl with the power to absorb the abilities of other mutants she touches and man with an incredible healing factor as well as steel claws embedded in his hands"

"A fraulien vith ze power to vield vhatever power she vishes and anozer powerhouse" Mused Kurt implying that the man was similar to Sabertooth.

"Both sound like likely targets" Agreed Scott.

"I'm about to log into Cerebro" The Professor said as he wheeled towards the entrance to his study. "I'll give you the exact coordinates when you're air born"

If that was not an order to move out then the X-men needed better lessons in understanding the hidden means behind words. Kurt took hold of Ororo and Scott's arms and teleported the three of the to the team's locker rooms whilst the Professor exited the study and headed for the secret entrance to the underground basement to the mansion.

'_I do not know what you're planning Eric, but I promise that, if it's within my power, I will stop you'_

_~#~_

_R&R_

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out_


	3. III

_Disclaimers on chapter I_

**Chapter III**

_Kitty sighed as she walked through the quiet halls of the mansion. She could not get to sleep so she had decided to explore her new home; all she hoped for was that she could find her room again afterwards._

_One of the first things she noticed about the place was that it was _big_ but she had no idea how big. She was sure she had passed the same junction several times now when she heard the sound of someone talking. Straining her ears she recognised the speaker's voice it was the German guy who liked to prank people._

_Kitty's heart immediately sank as she remembered how the guys supposedly harmless prank backfired making him feel more miserable than her. Hoping to make things well, Kitty followed the voice until it led her to one of the boys' dorms. His voice could be heard much clearer now and it sounded like he was speaking in German._

_Pressing her ear to the door in hopes of understanding what he was saying Kitty barely had time to gasp before she fell _through_ the door landing inside the German's room._

"_I've heard of dropping in on people" The German said as he walked over to her and offered her a hand up. "But I thought _I_ vas ze only von who did zat_ literally_"_

_Kitty giggled slightly as she took the offered hand and was suddenly pulled to her feet easily allowing her to look at her helper who had a forced smile on his face._

"_Um...Sorry for like ruining your prank" Kitty apologised in a small voice._

"_I should be ze von apologising to you fraulien" The German replied._

_Kitty silently huffed; she knew he would have trouble according to Jean, the problem was_ how _to remove it. A light bulb suddenly lit up inside her head as a plan formulated itself._

"_Tell you what" Kitty started. "You take me to the kitchen, whip us up a batch of hot chocolate, we swap info about one another there and we'll call it even. Sounds good?"_

_It took the German several seconds to think it through before smiling. "Ja, zat sounds Wunderbar"_

_Kitty smiled as well before holding out her hand. "Kitty Pride"_

"_Kurt Wagner" Kurt replied taking the girls hand in his own. "But in the Munich circus I am known as ze amazing _Nightcrawler"

"_Munich?" Kitty asked as her eyes started to move down his body before his tail pushed her chin upwards._

"_In name only I assure you" Kurt answered his cheeks looking slightly purple causing Kitty to giggle._

_She suddenly gasped as she felt like being pulled through a straw again and finding herself in the kitchen. "Whoa"_

"_Sorry for ze shock" Kurt apologised as he rummaged around the cupboards looking for the tin of hot chocolate powder. "You'll get used to it after a while"_

_After serving up two steaming mugs of hot chocolate the two strangers sat down at the table and began to swap gossip about one another from before they were taken in by the Professor. It was safe to say that Kitty was intrigued with the blue mutant before her as he described his death defying acrobatics in such detail that she could almost picture it in her head._

"_Say, Kurt?" Kitty asked as she finished the last of her hot chocolate. "How do you...put up with it?"_

_Kurt immediately knew what she meant; being blue and demonic looking _does_ make one stand out more than others._

"_Because ze Lord watches over me" He answered before downing the rest of his drink. "Und everyvon here looks out for me, in more vays zan von"_

_Kitty giggled again as she got what he meant whilst he wriggled his eyebrows. She stopped giggling when she yawned widely and nearly fell off her stool in tiredness before Kurt caught her gently lifted her onto his back._

"_I believe I shall be valking you to your room tonight" Kurt chuckled as he left the kitchen and walked towards the tired girls room not wanting to teleport in case it drove away the sandman._

"_You know?" Kitty said sleepily. "When I first arrived here I thought I wouldn't have any friends"_

"_You could use a friend?" Kurt asked._

_Kitty smiled as she heard the unspoken question. Wrapping her arms more securely round his neck as she snuggled into Kurt's shoulder she whispered. "Gods yeah"_

_#~#_

"_Gott en Himmel_" Kurt muttered as he hopped from one foot to another again. "Vhen ze professor said he vas in Canada I vas hoping for ze _dry_ forests not ze _vinter_ vons"

He and the other two were currently in the remote parts of Canada tailing Sabertooth as he lay in wait for one or possibly both of the other mutants Cerebro had registered in the area. And right now Kurt was wishing that whoever made the uniforms had made him a pair of _shoes_ or at least a pair of gloves shaped like his feet so that he did not have hop about now and again as the cold became too much to bear.

"It's times like zis zat I _almost_ vish I had _fur_" He mumbled as he shifted his weight onto the other foot.

"_Almost_?" Storm asked her eyes currently pure white as she controlled the winds to make sure they were standing upwind of Sabertooth so that he did not catch their scent.

"Kitty sometimes calls me 'elf'" Kurt explained. "Zere is no doubt in _mien_ mind zat she vould call me '_fuzzy elf_' if I had fur"

"You two have pet names for one another?" Scott tried to ask seriously however his trembling frame indicated he was suppressing his amusement. And Storm was no better as she was slightly smiling herself.

"Zis comes from ze man zat mutters sveet nozzings in his _weiblich's_ ear vhen he zhinks no von is listening?" Kurt shot back grinning when he saw Scott's face go as red as the ruby quartz lenses in his visor.

"Quit it the pair of you before I lose focus over laughing at your banter!" Storm hissed it was hard enough trying to keep the winds in her favour _without_ listening to those two tease one another about their loved ones.

Kurt and Scott smartly decided to obey the weather witch; a lightning bolt to the rear was not on either of their list of things to do before they die. Not moments after did they hear the sounds of a vehicle approaching.

"Let's go" Cyclops ordered.

"_Zhird time lucky_ perhaps?" Nightcrawler asked as the three of them moved over to the ridge from where they could see both the road and Sabertooth.

If there was one thing to commend the X-men on it was being able to know _when_ and _when not_ to throw about idle banter and this was one of those _when not_ times.

"You know a thought just occurred to me" Nightcrawler stated before nodding his head at the furry behemoth down below. "How does _he_ know zat zey vill go zis vay togezzer und not go in different directions?"

Even if either of the two were about to answer they were silenced as they watched Sabertooth push over a tree on the edge of the road so that the RV crashed into it sending the driver through the windscreen.

"Now _zat_ had to hurt!" Nightcrawler exclaimed before preventing himself from gasping out loud as the three of them watched as the driver got up. He nearly whistled when he saw the man's wounds close up as if time was going backwards. "Zat's ze powerhouse"

Cyclops nodded. "Let's wait and see how he fairs against Sabertooth before stepping in"

They did not have to wait long as Sabertooth caught the man off guard with a lethal uppercut that sent him twenty odd feet into the air before landing squarely on the bonnet of the RV making the girl inside scream.

"Somezing tells me you two _von't_ have a good relationship" Nightcrawler said to Cyclops before teleporting himself onto the fallen tree placing himself between Sabertooth and the other two.

Sabertooth paused for a moment before walking towards him apparently unafraid of the Nightcrawler before stopping again as the winds changed and he caught the scents of two more X-men behind him. Turning round he saw the weather witch and the one-eyed laser. Knowing too well that he could not tackle three of them and win Sabertooth wisely decided to flee just before Cyclops shot the ground where he was standing mere milliseconds ago.

Seeing one trouble disappear Nightcrawler set his sights on the other trouble; getting the girl out of the RV before it exploded due to the petroleum canister leaking and pouring down towards a live loose cable. He quickly teleported into the driver's seat and made to grab the girl only for her to lean away from his touch.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed.

At first Kurt thought that she meant she did not want him to _touch her_ before realising she meant she did not want him grabbing her and unwillingly absorb her powers. He quickly offered her his hand.

"Give me your _gloved_ hand _fraulien_!"

The girl immediately complied. The next second she was being given a piggy-back on top of the bonnet whilst Nightcrawler wrapped his tail round the unconscious mans leg before teleporting again to where Cyclops and Storm were making sure when he reappeared he dropped the man's body atop of Cyclops sending both to the ground.

"Dammit Kurt!" Cyclops yelled as he pushed the unconscious man's body off of himself before glaring at Nightcrawler who had gently placed the girl on the ground.

"Who are ya'll?" The girl asked slightly terrified of the three before her.

"Ve are not here to harm you _fraulien_" Kurt spoke in a calming way. "Ve are similar to you; _mien _name is Kurt Wagner, or Nightcrawler if you prefer, und ve offer you und your _deadveight_"- The girl could not help but smile slightly when he referred to her unconscious friend- "sanctuary und help in controlling your povers all for ze small price of knowing vhat to call you"

The girl's smile was now easily seen after Kurt's small speech whilst the other two watched a master shepherd lure in another lost lamb as it were.

"Anna-Marie" The girl stated. "But I'd prefer _Rogue_ if ya'll don mind"

_~#~_

_R&R_

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out._


	4. IV

_Now that I've done those festive fics I can get back to the matter at hand; updating updatable fics (oh joy) & before I forget the disclaimers on chapter I_

**Chapter IV**

"_Vhilst I do not mind helping you get to class" Kurt said to Kitty as he looked at the girl who was following him. "I do mind you squeezing mien tail"_

_Kitty smiled nervously as she loosened her grip on her new friend's said appendage but did not release it. She was following closely behind Kurt as the two of them moved through the throng of student's going to classes in the opposite direction._

"_Sorry" Kitty mumbled. "It's just that I'm still not used to my powers so..."_

"_Vhatever happens to you you'll be taking me along" Kurt deduced as he understood what the girl was trying to explain. "Talk about going down und taking somevon vith you"_

_He smiled when he heard the girl laugh._

"_It's better to fall with someone else than on your own" Kitty retorted when she had gotten her laughter under control. "That way you can blame it on them and be embarrassment free"_

_They both laughed at that as the two of them reached Kitty's class._

"_Vell, have fun" Kurt said as he made to leave. "Und if Herr Summers gets too rough just let me know und I'll prank him for you"_

"_I _can_ look after myself you know" Kitty said as she glared at him. "I'm a big girl after all"_

_Kurt stared at Kitty for a moment his eyes going up and down her body making her shiver in a good way for some reason before speaking._

"Very_big" he said as he began to shake with suppressed laughter. "Vhen ve're all sitting on ze floor vhilst you're standing maybe"_

_He quickly teleported away as Kitty's book bag came flying towards him. Kitty growled as she marched towards where her book bag landed. She would teach him the meaning of the phrase big things comes in small packages before the day was done._

_#~*~#_

Jean watched in amusement as Kitty paced about the hanger for the Blackbird waiting for the jet to return so that she could see Kurt again, and the others of course. The reason it was so amusing to Jean was because if it was not for Kitty's power the girl would have walked into the wall several times instead she disappeared into them then reappeared further down completely oblivious to what she was doing.

"What's taking them so long?" Kitty muttered unaware that she was talking out loud although with Jean it did not matter. "If anything's happened to Kurt I'll...I'll...-"

"Nothing's going to happen to him Kitty" Jean intervened sensing that the girl was starting to panic. "Kurt's rarely in one place long enough for someone to hurt him"

She could not blame her though ever since he came to the institute Kurt's unique personality alone made him liked by everyone at the mansion. He had shown that even though they were different it did not stop them from having normal lives. That and the fact that ever since the two became friends they were _almost_ inseparable.

"Yeah, you're right" Kitty said as she took deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. "But that doesn't make the wait anymore easier"

At that precise moment the roof to the hanger opened allowing the Blackbird to gracefully descend onto its landing pad. The next second Kurt had appeared behind the two watchers making them both jump.

"_Guten tag frauliens_" Kurt said cheerfully. "It is nice to see _mien_ fans still adore me"

Kitty was about to give Kurt a piece of her mind when she suddenly noticed there was another girl clinging to him.

"Who's your new friend Kurt?" Jean asked acting like she could not sense the jealousy emanating off of the girl beside her.

"Zis is Rogue" Kurt stated as he made sure to place his hand on Rogue's shoulder without touching the girl's skin. "Und as vell as varn you not to have skin contact vith her because of her powers I vas hoping zat you could take her up to ze Professor's office Kitty"

"What? Me? Why?" Kitty blurted out suddenly caught off guard by the question.

"Because zere is anozer man in ze Blackbird who is at ze moment unconscious" Kurt explained. "Und ze reason vhy I must do it is because Storm is already falling for him, Scott already hates him for some reason und if ve let Jean take him zhrough zen she will fall for him as well as making Scott even more mad at the same time. _Auf wiedersehen_"

With that Kurt quickly teleported into the Blackbird to grab the unconscious man before teleporting to the Med Lab before the aforementioned ones became hostile judging by the looks on their faces. Kitty quickly grabbed Rogue's gloved hand and led her out of the hanger via the closed door. Only once they were fully tangible on the other side did the two burst out laughing.

"Is yer boyfriend always lahk thaht?" Rogue asked once she had managed to regain the breath she had lost from laughing too hard.

"You have no idea" Kitty replied still chuckling before realising what was asked. "Wait! He's not-I mean-Aren't you?"

"Yer glare back there explained evrahthin" Rogue interrupted the flustered girl. "'sahdes, he more lahk a big brother tah me than a boyfriend"

Kitty was instantly becoming to like the new girl more and more after her last statement.

"He's like the bigger brother we've never had for most of the younger students" Kitty explained softly. "It's actually really hard to imagine this place without him"

"Place would probably be full of stuck up jerks" Rogue agreed as the two of them came out the lift only to walk into Bobby who was walking in the opposite direction.

"Hey Kitty" Bobby greeted when he realised who he had bumped into. "Who's your friend?"

"Ah'm Marie" Rogue mumbled blushing.

"Kurt just brought her in" Kitty explained seeing that her new friend was speechless.

"Oh that reminds me" Bobby exclaimed. "Kurt's doing history and German classes and his first history class is tomorrow. You two going?"

"_We'll_ be there" Kitty answered before Rogue could say anything.

"Cool, catch you girls later" Bobby said as he walked off. "Later Marie"

Marie just stood there watching Bobby go until Kitty nudged her.

"So is _he_ more preferable for boyfriend material?" Kitty teased as she pulled Rogue towards the Professor's office.

"Oh yeah" Rogue said dreamily still looking back the way he had gone before both of them giggled like a couple of school girls.

"Something tells me" Kitty said as she linked arms with Rogue. "That you and I are going to get along just fine"

_#~*~#_

_A little help please, I'm running out of flashback material_

_Kindly include your suggestions in your reviews_

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space, peace out & __**Happy New Year!**_


	5. V

_Disclaimers on chapter I_

**Chapter V**

_If he was asked what period was his favourite then Kurt would have answered lunch period in reply. His teleportation power apparently relied on how full his stomach is as if each teleport burns up several calories. Which is why when then bell sounded Kurt quickly teleported his books to his room before making another teleport to the mess hall and was surprised to see that Kitty was there before him._

"_Vhile I am not displeased to see you fraulien" He said as he walked over to her. "How in the heavenly Lord's name did you get here _before_ me?"_

"_I had finished the class work for the period before everyone else so I was allowed to leave early" Kitty replied a little too sweetly for Kurt's taste but he just shrugged it off as the girl just trying to get used to being with other unique individuals. "You going to sit down or do you prefer standing while eating?"_

"_I thought you vould never ask" Kurt joked as he took the seat Kitty had pulled out for him._

_When he made to sit down however instead of landing on the chair his backside connected with the floor _below_ it as he fell through the chair. Kitty laughed loudly as she took her hand off the chair making it solid again after Kurt got out from under it. She then jumped when she heard people clapping. Turning she saw that she had an audience that was applauding her for managing to trick Kurt._

"_That was brilliant!" One boy about a year older than her said as he and his friend walked over to her. "You are the _first_ person to ever get back at Kurt"_

"_Kitty zis is Bobby Drake und John Allerdyce" Kurt said as he introduced the two teens to her. "Boys zis is Kitty Pryde ze latest fraulien to join our flock"_

"_Why must you always talk about us like we're sheep?" John asked as he flicked his Zippo lighter open and closed repeatedly. "Makes me want to have lamb chops"_

"_Vell zen I'll let you have first dibs at zem before I eat zem" Kurt retorted earning a laugh from Bobby and Kitty as he sat down after making sure his chair was solid._

"_So what are your powers?" Kitty asked the two boys after serving herself a decent sized helping of Caesar salad._

_John flicked his lighter open igniting it then pulled the flame into his other hand without touching it before making it grow bigger._

"_I can control fire" He stated lazily before he manipulated it so that it floated over to Kurt who was leaning back slightly as if afraid of it despite looking rather calm on the outside._

_Kitty was about to ask John to stop when Bobby pointed his hand at the floating ball of fire and a beam of ice shot at it freezing the flame to land in a glass that Kurt had quickly put under it._

"_I don't think I need to tell you what my power is" Bobby joked before helping himself to some mashed potato._

"_As you can see Kitty John is a _hot-head_ vhilst Bobby alvays looks _cool _und both are very helpful vhen it comes to barbecues vith cold refreshments" Kurt joked causing all those around to hear laugh heartily Bobby included, John however slammed his hand against the table before stomping off._

"_Don't mind him" Bobby said in a low voice so that only Kurt and Kitty could hear him. "He thinks that our powers should be used to show others why we're feared speaking of-"_

"_I'm alright Bobby" Kurt interrupted. "I might still be unused to people like John und Amara but I'm getting better"_

_Kitty was about to ask what he was talking about when she saw a guy in his late teens who was rather muscle bound walk up to them and felt her tongue tie up in knots._

"_Is this seat taken?" He asked in a deep voice pointing to the chair John had recently vacated._

"_Not at all mien Russian friend" Kurt answered seeing that Kitty was currently drooling. "Don't mind ze new fountain by ze vay"_

_Realising that he was talking about her Kitty spun round to slap Kurt on the arm only for Kurt to grab it and pull her close to him._

"_I vould advise against trying to flirt vith Piotr" He whispered in her ear. "He prefers men"_

"_And how do I know you're not lying to keep me to yourself?" Kitty asked glaring at her blue friend._

"_Because I told him that while he looks cute he's too skinny for my taste" Piotr replied making Kitty jump as she realised she had spoken a little too loud."I'll still be your friend if you want but anything more I am unsure about"_

"_Oh" Kitty replied in a small voice. "So what can you do?"_

"_I have a better idea on how to show you our powers" Kurt said before teleporting to the end of the room. "Who's__ up for a game of Mutantball after classes!?"_

_The cheering that came from the students in reply answered his question as Kurt just teleported back to his seat._

"_What's Mutantball?" Kitty asked._

"_Have you read or vatched zat Twilight movie?"_

"_Yeah but what's that got to do with...No way"_

"_Vay" Kurt replied. "Und vay better too"_

*~#~*

"I vould be grateful if you vould stop playing possum mien friend" Kurt said to the supposedly unconscious man as he walked into the med lab. "I am not going to harm you"

The man in question opened one eye before slowly getting up rubbing his jaw in the process, despite his healing factor, and metal laced skeleton that no one at the place he was currently in yet knew about, that blow he took still hurt.

"How did you know I was up" He asked looking at the blue elf demon hybrid person in front of him.

Kurt tapped one of his pointed ears. "You veren't ze only von vith enhanced senses"

"You got a name or are you this places pet mascot or something" The man asked whilst looking round the sterile med lab looking for a way out, asides the door behind Kurt.

"Vere are mien manners" Kurt gasped dramatically. "Kurt Wagner, but in ze Munich circus I'm known as ze-"

"Yeah, yeah whatever" The man interrupted waving a hand in front of him. "I'm Logan"

"Vell zen Herr Logan" Kurt said a bit peeved that someone would interrupt his introduction. "I have an important question I must ask you"

"Shoot" Logan said as he got off the table.

"Are you picky about beer?" Kurt asked.

Logan quirked an eyebrow at Kurt obviously confused. "Not really, why?"

Logan jumped as Kurt disappeared in a cloud of sulphur and brimstone. He barely had time to get rid of the stench that filled his nose before Kurt reappeared on the very table he was once lying on.

"Can't you do that trick _without_ the stench?" Logan gasped as he moved away trying to find fresh air.

"You vill probably get used to zat in time, depending how long you stay here" Kurt shrugged. "As to help your recovery from your fight yesterday I brought some medicinal bottles zat vill hopefully hit ze spot"

With that Kurt raised his tail to show Logan a four pack of German beer. Plucking one bottle out of its box he tossed to Logan then took another out for himself before realising he had forgotten something.

"You vouldn't happen to have a bottle opener on you by any chance?" Kurt asked his reply was Logan bringing out one of his claws and skilfully taking off the caps.

"Just don't ask me to open cans and we'll be fine" Logan smirked.

"Only if you tell none of ze kids' zat zere is alcohol in ze mansion" Kurt countered before raising his bottle to Logan and taking a swig. "You have no idea how hard it is to get zis stuff vhen you're looking blue all ze time"

"Try and get some Canadian beer next time and we'll call it even" Logan smirked before taking s swig out of his own. He was starting to like the _elf _more and more before he remembered what the elf had said.

"Kids? Mansion?" He asked before looking round again. "This place looks more like some futuristic base"

Kurt chuckled before remembering something else and reached behind himself grabbing something and chucking it at Logan. Catching it Logan realised it was a grey hoodie for himself as he was currently bare from the waist up.

"Ve are currently in ze underground level of ze mansion of Herr Professor Charles Xavier for people like us" Kurt explained as he waited for Logan to put the hoodie on. "Vonce you are ready ve shall go see him"

Once Logan put on the hoodie and finished his bottle he was about to head out through the door when Kurt grabbed his shoulder.

"Brace yourself" Kurt warned before teleporting the two of them out of the med lab and into, Logan assumed, the Professor's study where there was currently a class in session yet nobody jumped as they were all accustomed to Kurt appearing unexpectedly. "Guess I forgot about ze time"

"It's okay Kurt" Said the old man in the wheelchair that Logan guessed was the Professor who was teaching the class. "We were just finishing"

As if he spoke the magic words the students got up and left taking their stuff with them before leaving the study, all except one girl who quickly ran back to her chair to grab her course book before turning to leave again.

"See you later Kurt" She said smiling brightly before walking off.

Logan guessed there was something between the two; he couldn't blame Kurt for liking the girl though as he watched her walk up to the door then _through_ it making him jump slightly before turning back to Kurt for an explanation.

"You'd be amazed how surprising Kitty can be vhen she vants to" Kurt said sounding reminiscent.

"I'll take your word for it" Logan remarked before turning towards the Professor. "You the guy in charge here?"

"In a sense I suppose" The Professor said before turning t Kurt. _~Would you mind leaving us alone for a while Kurt? You have your first to prepare yourself for anyway~_

_Wunderbar_ Kurt thought. "I shall see you later hopefully"

"If it goes the way I think it does I'll need another _drink_" Logan muttered so that only Kurt could hear. "Catch you later, hey before I forget what happened to the kid I was with?"

"She's coping vell" Kurt answered as he headed towards the door. "I'll tell her you said hi"

With that he teleported to the hallway outside the study to see Kitty waiting for him.

"Told you I'd see you later" She said smiling as she walked over to him and wrapped an arm round his waist as the two made their way down the hall.

"Too impatient to vait for my first class?" Kurt joked as he put an arm around Kitty's shoulders. "Who's looking after Rogue?"

"Bobby is looking after your _sister Brother Wagner_" Kitty teased before squealing when Kurt's tail went up the inside of her shirt and tickled her side.

"Should I be giving zem ze _talk Sister Katherine_?" Kurt countered only for Kitty to walk off taking his belt, which had moments ago been round his waist, forcing Kurt to teleport away before his pants fell down.

"Not before _talking_ to me you don't" Kitty chuckled as she walked off to find Rogue, Bobby and John before their next class which was Kurt's first as teacher incidentally.

_#~*~#_

_R&R _

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out_


	6. VI

_Disclaimers on chapter I_

**Chapter VI**

_The smile on her face as she finished off her homework assignment clearly showed that Kitty had had a good first day. _

_The lessons were interesting and the teachers actually gave her a challenge unlike her former school teachers who just made her look over her notes for upcoming tests whilst the rest of the class tried to catch up to her level key word tried. Her stunt during lunch time made her famous as the first person who pranked Kurt and said elf, as she has decided to dub him, did not seem upset about it which was a major plus seeing as he was her best friend. _

_After classes she was given a front row seat to her first game of Mutantball and within five minutes she definitely thought it was better than the baseball scene in Twilight. She had seen element manipulators, metamorphers, energy and solid projectile launchers, animal imitators, sound emitters and even a couple of teleporters to name a few. All in all Kitty was going to like it at the mansion._

"_So Kitty" Said one of her roommates, Jubilation Lee, who lay sprawled across her own bed catching her attention. "After seeing a game of Mutantball and enjoying the view of most of the guys near your age or above, any catch your eye?"_

"_C'mon Jubilee!" Amara, Kitty's other roommate, exclaimed as she looked up from her magazine to stare at the girl. "Did you _not_ see Kitty drool over Piotr during lunch?"_

_Kitty quickly looked back at the sheets of paper in front of her in order to prevent the girls from seeing her blush. She had hoped that only Kurt and Piotr had seen her like that but apparently not from what Amara just said._

"_I don't think we'd work out well" She replied without turning round. _'Plus I'd need a footstool just so the top of my head reaches his chin'

_Her two roommates huffed but did not let up._

"_What about John or Bobby?" Amara suggested. "You were talking to them during lunch as well"_

_Kitty noticed that Amara had failed to mention Kurt's name but before she could point it out Jubilee cut her off._

"_Bobby uh-huh, John nuh-unh" She said shaking her head from side to side. "Whilst I normally go for the bad boy on occasion John is a definite no. Maybe Ray or Sam?"_

"_I was talking to Kurt at lunch as well" Kitty interrupted as she turned to face her two surprised roommates. "So why have you not mentioned him?"_

_Jubilee and Amara looked at one another and grinned widely. Kitty was immediately regretting interrupting them now._

"_So you _do_ have a thing for Kurt" Jubilee remarked as she turned back to her._

"_What?! No I don't!" Kitty exclaimed as her cheeks started sporting a pink hue._

"_Oh really?" Amara asked not believing her. "Then why have you rarely been _without_ him since coming here?"_

"_And why was he with you last night?" Jubilee continued before a sudden thought struck her. "Actually, what _were_ you two doing last night?"_

_Kitty's face went from pink to deep red when she realised that they had been awake when Kurt had dropped her onto her own bed. Had she been more awake she would have asked Kurt to put her down outside her room but she was so tired, and happy that she had a new friend, that the moment her head struck the pillow she fell straight to sleep._

"_And he's got his own room too!" Amara giggled. "You'll tell us if he's got those tattoo thingies _down there_ after you've done it right?"_

"_WHAT?!" Kitty all but screeched as she felt her face go even hotter than she thought possible whilst her roommates laughed at her reaction._

_*~#~*_

Kitty, John Bobby and Rogue grabbed the first four seats they could grab next to one another in the front row. All of them nervous, curious and excited about how their best friend/former classmate/big brother she never had would handle his first class. Whilst the rest of the class slowly arrived Kitty turned to Rogue who was sitting between herself and Bobby whilst John sat on the other side.

"Your travelling companion is awake" She said making Rogue break off her conversation with Bobby to look at her.

"Mah what?" She asked sounding confused.

"The guy you came in with" Kitty elaborated. "You know the one Kurt joked that he had to take away himself to prevent a bloodbath?"

Rogue snorted as she remembered the events of yesterday whilst Bobby looked confused about what they were talking about. John just ignored the conversation all together content with playing about with his lighter.

"He's not really mah trav'lin buddy, he was jist givin me ah lift t'thah next town" Rogue explained after she had calmed down a bit.

Before Kitty or the boys could ask her to elaborate their teacher teleported into the classroom.

"Guten tag mien former classmates" Kurt said cheerfully whilst his pupils cheered for him before settling down. "Now before I take ze register I must zank you for risking your lives by signing up for zis class and varn you if you do not show up I vill find you und teleport you here myself so make sure you are properly dressed"

"Reckon he'll make an exception fer ya or just wants an excuse to show up when yer just in yer britches?" Rogue whispered suggestively to Kitty whilst the rest of the class, minus John, laughed at Kurt's joke. Kitty replied by elbowing her friend as her face started to warm.

Over the next hour and a half Kurt proved himself to be a popular teacher. He blended the boring history readings with his sense of humour making it an interesting read and always asked for a different student to elaborate certain parts. Several times he had to ask Kitty to wait a minute before answering a question in case someone else knew the answer as well and twice he had to tell John to stop playing with his lighter during class or he would let Kitty phase it into a wall never to be seen again. When the bell rang the class moaned as they were actually enjoying themselves.

"If you lot vant somezing to moan about I can hand out homework for you" Kurt joked which immediately shut them up. "You lot are so gullible zese days, now get going"

He watched as they left, some of them congratulating him on making a good teacher en route, only breathing a sigh of relief once the last pupil had left the classroom. He was slightly surprised when he realised that Kitty, Bobby and Rogue were standing in front of his desk. All three of them looked curious yet very cheerful for some reason.

"Ja?"

"We were just wondering something" Kitty began. "Should we call you Mister Wagner?"

"Or Professor Wagner?" Bobby added trying to contain his laughter.

"Or Brother Nightcrawler?" Rogue continued although how she said it without bursting out laughing was beyond her.

"Ja, ja I get ze point just Kurt vill do" Kurt interrupted causing the three students to burst out laughing. He waited for them to calm down before asking his own question. "Did I do okay today?"

"_Okay_?" Kitty repeated sounding shocked. "Kurt you were great! If all teachers were like you then there wouldn't be so many idiots out there!"

"Teacher's pet" Bobby muttered to Rogue forcing her to fake cough to cover her laughter as Kitty glared at them.

Kurt found himself holding back his laughter himself before turning to focus on Rogue. "Und how are you getting on viz zese troublemakers fraulien?"

Rogue could not help but burst out laughing as her friends exclaimed simultaneously at Kurt's implication.

"Ah don know how yah put up with 'em" She replied causing her friends to glare at her instead.

"Usually I just ignore zem" Kurt explained pretending that it was only Rogue and himself in the room, until Kitty had grabbed hold of his tail that is.

"Ah think yer girlfriend's havin second thoughts 'bout yer relationship" Rogue stated before suddenly becoming glum that she could never have an intimate relationship with _anyone_. She was startled when Kurt suddenly teleported in front of her and quickly flicked her nose.

"Whit was thaht for?!" She hollered as she rubbed her sore nose. "Ya trahin tah get put intah ah coma or sumthin?"

"C'mon Rogue" Bobby said trying to calm her down. "It was for barely a second"

Rogue grumbled something before feeling the inevitable itch that came before sneezing. When she did sneeze however she disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke shocking the rest of them.

"Vell zat's just _wunderbar_" Kurt stated before sending a mental note to the Professor to inform him of the disappearing damsel.

_#~*~#_

_R&R _

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out_


	7. VII

_Disclaimers on chapter I_

**Chapter VII**

_For the second time in two nights, Kitty was wandering the halls of the mansion. This time however it was to escape from her roommates who were teasing her about her supposed relationship with Kurt. At first she tried to tell them that Kurt and she were just friends unfortunately Jubilee and Amara did not believe her and started to ask questions about the blue tattooed housemate until she just phased herself through the floor to escape the interrogation._

_To herself, Kitty admitted that she _did_ feel something for her best friend but she figured it was just a feeling of overwhelming gratitude for the elf when he asked if she wanted him as her friend. Plus she did not know much about him and her parents taught her to never start a relationship with someone you do not know well. A well timed lesson as the next day she had met a guy called Lance Alvers who turned out to be nothing more than a hood despite his interests in her._

_A sudden noise up ahead distracted her from her musings. As she got closer the sound of metal on metal could be heard as well as an all too familiar ascent. Peering cautiously round the corner she saw Kurt sword fighting with an immobile suit of armour. Apparently Kurt was using him as a pretend opponent as he pretended to fence with him. She had to admit, he was very good with a sword._

"_You have met your match mien hollow freund" He said as he twirled his own sword skilfully before lunging at the suit and pretending that it parried his blow then proceeded to move his sword up and down, left and right as if parrying the armour's assault on him._

_Kitty had to cover her mouth with both hands to stop herself from giggling out loud and alerting the elf to her presence. She nearly laughed out loud when she saw his tail latch onto the armour's empty left hand whilst his left hand grabbed hold of the armour's right hand, which held a sword in it' and made it look like they were in a deadlock with one another._

_Apparently the armour gained the upper hand as Kurt threw himself backwards as if pushed forcefully losing his sword in the process as it flew into the air. Kurt countered by using the momentum to back flip then do a rotation somersault in the air, catching his blade and then teleporting back to the armour swinging his sword at it. Whether on purpose or not, the speed he had gained from the rotation made Kurt behead the armour forcing the helmet to fly off and straight into Kitty's arms causing her to squeal slightly as she caught it on instinct and Kurt to realise he had an audience._

"_K-Kitty?" Kurt stammered when he saw her and quickly hid the sword behind his back despite knowing it was pointless. "I vas just-I mean-uh...oh nien"_

_At the sight of Kurt embarrassed and stuttering as he tried to make excuses, Kitty could no longer hold it in and she burst out laughing. She managed to muffle it with her hand but even despite that it could still be heard making Kurt blush purple if she saw rightly in the darkness causing her to laugh even harder. Eventually she managed to calm down and went over to the headless suit of armour to replace its head before going over to where Kurt was crouched with his back to her and crouched down beside him._

"_You must zhink zat I'm pathetic now" Kurt mumbled turning so that he was looking away from her._

"_I don't" Kitty said before blushing as she admitted. "I thought you were amazing"_

"_Really?" Kurt asked sounding surprised._

_Kitty nodded enthusiastically before continuing. "Yeah, I mean you moved so flawlessly, elegantly. You make those swords fighting scenes you see in movies look like child's play"_

"_Danke" Kurt mumbled now blushing with embarrassment over her praise before changing the subject. "Vhat brings you down here _zis_ time?"_

_It was now Kitty's turn to look embarrassed as she looked down at her feet. "Amara and Jubilee were teasing me about our relationship"_

"_But ve are not in a rela-oh!" Kurt cut himself off as he realised what Kitty was meaning. "Ah"_

"_Yeah" Kitty sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I like you but not _like_-like you"_

"_None taken" Kurt said as he stood up. "Und I do not blame you for not vanting to like me _zat_ vay. Who vould?"_

_Kitty felt a pang of sorrow for her friend as he helped her to stand up. Despite his cheerful and happy go lucky attitude, Kurt's appearance sent most people to the hills after just one look at him. She shuddered when she realised that his past, before the Professor fought him and brought him in, must have been terrible._

"_Anyvay, enough of mien voes" Kurt said pretending to wave them away with his hand. "Vhat's say ve prank your roommates for zere insinuations"_

"_How?" Kitty asked curiously._

_Kurt just grinned mischievously before bending down and whispering in Kitty's ear. As he laid out his plan, Kitty herself started to sport her own mischievous grin. The next morning the whole mansion was woken up by the screams of two girls when they stepped out of the showers and saw themselves with blue hair in the mirror._

_*~#~*_

Logan suppressed a sigh of relief when Jean finally let him out of the coffin that they called a multi-purpose scanner. He hated enclosed spaces with a passion yet did not know how, but he did not want to show himself as being weak in front of the red head Jean Black or whatever her last name was.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" The doctor asked as if sensing his fear and discomfort.

Logan looked at her warily. Asides the elf, elf's love interest, the kid and Chuck he had no idea what powers the rest of the residents at this place had. He would have to keep his guard up even round a toddler until he knew what their powers were. He was about to give her some snappy, flirtatious retort when he heard the sound he had come to recognise as the one the elf made when he teleported. Instead of seeing the elf appear in a bluish black cloud however he saw the kid instead. The doc apparently thought it was the elf as well as she was also looking at the girl with surprise. The next second another bamf was heard and this time the elf appeared atop the scanner beside the doc.

"Zere you are" Kurt said with obvious relief. "I zhought ve lost you"

Logan was about to ask who the 'we' was when the elf's love interest suddenly fell through the ceiling and landed catlike on the floor. She then quickly took hold of the kid's arm in case she suddenly teleported again, however it seemed to be a onetime thing as she could not seem to teleport anymore. The elf meanwhile was looking between the doc and Logan who was once again shirtless.

"How could you Jean" Kurt said pretending to be disappointed with her as he shook his head. "I zhought you knew better zhan to seduce strange men. Und behind Scott's back und all"

Apparently he had struck a nerve as the next thing Kurt knew he was plastered to the ceiling with Jean glaring up at him despite sporting pink cheeks. He was saved when the Professor came through the door followed by Scott and Ororo.

"Let him go Jean, he wasn't meaning you any harm" He told the red head.

Jean released Kurt from the ceiling but blocked his powers so that he landed on the ground with a thump. As he got up Kurt cast a wary look at Jean who was still glaring daggers at him. Shrugging it off Kurt turned to Kitty and Rogue who were looking at him with concern after seeing what had just happened.

"Vhy don't you two frauliens show Herr Logan around ze mansion" Kurt suggested to them hinting that there was about to be a meeting taking place and it was for X-men only.

The girls took the hint and asked Logan to follow them as they made their way out of the room. As Logan passed Kurt on the way to the door Kurt stopped him.

"A quick vord of varning mien freund" He whispered. "Jean und Scott are togezzer, so I vould suggest not trying to do anyzing of ze romantic type to her. Oh und put your sweater back on unless you vant to attract more attention to yourself"

Upon realising that what Kurt had said was true, Logan turned round to fetch his sweater only to find Scott holding it as he walked over to him. When he got close enough Scott shoved the sweater rather hard into Logan's chest reinforcing what Kurt had told him seconds ago.

"Is soldier boy always this stuck up?" He asked Rogue and Kitty once the three of them had left the room.

"Depends how bad Kurt pranked him before hand" Kitty replied as they got into the elevator.

"How bad _can_ he be?" Rogue asked just as curious a Logan.

"Put it this way" Kitty began as she tried to not smile too widely as she remembered some of the elf's achievements. "If you don't want to be embarrassed in front of everyone here, _don't_ give him a reason to"

Logan shrugged his shoulders at the girls riddle. "Whatever you say _Half-pint_"

"Hey!" Kitty exclaimed whilst Rogue tried to hide her laughter.

*~#~*

"The metal is an alloy called _adamantium,_ supposedly indestructible" Jean explained as she showed the rest of the X-men and the Professor X-ray pictures of Logan's skeletal structure. "It's been surgically grafted to his _entire _skeleton"

Scott and Kurt shivered. Both of them knew that in order to get metal into a fixed placed it had to be done whilst the metal was in molten form.

"How could he have survived that?" Ororo asked knowing a little about metal grafting herself.

"His power of regeneration" Kurt answered. "He must have been von of many who vere snatched avay from zere lives for some project. Und he must have been von of ze best"

Jean nodded before backing up Kurt's theory. "He has uncharted regenerative capability which enables him to heal rapidly. It also makes his age impossible to determine"

"You mean he could be older zhan ze Professor? No offense Herr Professor" Kurt quickly added to the man himself.

"Who did this to him?" Scott asked. Despite his dislike for the guy trying to flirt with his woman, according to what he heard Kurt say, he actually felt sorry for him having to go through something like that and actually live to tell the tale.

"He doesn't know" Jean replied shaking her head sadly. "Nor does he know anything about his life before it happened"

"Experimentation on mutants" The Professor said softly. "It's not unheard of. But I have never seen anything like this before"

"What does Magneto want with him?" Scott asked.

"Nozzing" Kurt said. "He vas just in ze wrong place at ze wrong time"

Seeing that he had everyone else's attention Kurt explained his theory. "During our search for Rogue Kitty told me that Logan vas only giving her a lift to the next town. It got me vondering; vhat if vas only after ze girl Magneto vanted und Logan giving her a lift vas just a coincidence?"

"It's a possibility" Ororo mused. "But if so, then why her?"

"Her power" Kurt answered. "Not only can she be an extra hand vith von particular power vhen necessary, she can also be a substitute, a replacement so to say"

"What are you trying to say Kurt?" Scott asked impatiently.

Kurt sighed deeply before replying. "I'm saying, alzough I hope to god zat I'm wrong, zat Magneto may be planning to use Rogue as a necessary sacrifice"

Little did Kurt know that at that very moment, Eric Lensherr aka Magneto stumbled off of his latest invention in the fight against humans, feeling both weak and drained, towards the captured and now gene altered Senator Kelly.

"Welcome to _our_ world Senator" He muttered weakly in Kelly's ear before heading to his private quarters to recuperate from the toll the machine took on him.

'_Soon' _he thought to himself. _'Soon everything vill be in place'_

_#~*~#_

_R&R_

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out_


	8. VIII

_Disclaimers on chapter I_

**Chapter VIII**

_It had been a whole week now since Kitty had arrived at the mansion. Asides from a few minor accidents with her powers, she had already grown accustomed to the ways and routines of the mansion and she could safely say that it would not be likely she would be bored anytime soon; especially if her best friend had anything to say about it._

_Right now she was currently writing a letter to her parents although to be precise she was finishing said letter. The letter basically outlined her first week starting from the moment she first entered the mansion and met Kurt for the first time and ending with what she and her roommates got up to last night with their assortments of make-up and cosmetics._

_Finishing her letter with a quick scribble of her name, Kitty folded it up gently and put in the addressed envelope before phasing through the floor to the level below. Upon reaching the foyer, Kitty put her letter in the box that contained all the other letters from the housemates to their respective families and was about to see if she could spend some time with Jean when she noticed a familiar prehensile tail swinging lazily from the rafters._

_Following the tail to its source, Kitty saw Kurt having a peaceful nap from atop one of the rafters looking like a sleeping blue leopard with his limbs hanging over either side of the beam. Kitty stifled a giggle as she looked up at her best friend. She could not believe she was thinking of it, but she was actually starting to feel something for the elf that was not friendship._

"_It's amazing that he can sleep so peacefully despite his past" Someone noted from behind her. Whirling round, Kitty saw Miss Munroe standing near the stairway whilst looking up at Kurt as well._

"_What happened in his past?" Kitty asked quietly so as not to disturb him._

_Ororo shook her head sadly. "That, is something only Kurt can tell you"_

_Kitty looked down at her feet contemplating Ororo's words as the weather witch walked away most likely to her classroom where it also doubled as a greenhouse. Looking back over her first week, Kitty noted all the times when Kurt involuntarily shoved hints to his troubled past including how she upset him when she screamed upon seeing him at their first meeting and lunchtime during her first day of classes when John manipulated a ball of fire towards him causing him to lean back._

"_Vhat's vith ze frown?" Kurt asked as his head suddenly appeared in front of her upside down causing her to shriek in surprise as she jumped backwards and landed, thankfully, on the floor with a thud. Looking up form where she landed, Kitty saw that Kurt was hanging from the rafters by his tail whilst he chuckled at her response to his appearance._

"_You better pray I don't catch you, you obnoxious blue elf you" Kitty growled before getting up and trying to grab him only to clutch smoke whilst he reappeared on the first floor landing. "Because when I do, it won't be pretty"_

"_I'm shaking in mien boots" Kurt said pretending to tremble in fear as Kitty ran up the stairs towards him and dove at him only to go through another cloud of smoke and over the banister. Before Kitty could start to panic, she had landed in Kurt's arms when he teleported below her._

"_Enjoy your flight?" He joked._

_Smiling sweetly, Kitty just phased out of his arms and walked away. Kurt did not realise what she was smiling about until he tried to walk away. His feet were phased into the floor._

_*~#~*_

Logan tossed and turned in his sleep. As far back as he could remember he had always been plagued with nightmares about his lost past. Tonight was no different. Vague images flashed behind his closed eyelids of people in full body suits and masks some holding a glass of champagne others holding large needles, himself being used as a drawing board for god knows what or stuck in a tank just large enough for him. The final image was of one of the men holding a large needle up to his eyes before plunging it into him. On pure instinct he sat up unsheathing one set of claws and impaling the imaginary person. Only this time, it was not his imagination.

*#~#*

Kurt let out a sigh of irritation as he walked the dark corridors of the mansion. Despite knowing that Kitty and Bobby would keep an eye on Rogue during the day whilst at night she would sleep with Kitty and her roommates, thanks to Kitty's offer the day she arrived, Kurt could not help but worry over the girl as if she really was his sibling.

Ever since he voiced his suggestion to the team and the Professor earlier today about Magneto using Rogue as some sort of sacrifice, he became nearly paranoid over the girls safety. It also made sleep hard to come by which was why he was wandering the halls only this time he was not in the mood for re-enacting one of his favourite scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean.

He was contemplating wandering over to the girls' dorms to check up on Rogue when he heard it. Two screams; one feral and enraged as if just wakening from a bad dream, one startled before suddenly being cut off halfway through and the sound of something similar to a sword being drawn from a sheath before embedding itself in something else. The sounds barely reaching his ears before he took off down the hallway at such speed he had to teleport the corners instead of turning.

Skidding to a halt at the opened door, Kurt felt his blood freeze up when he saw three blades sticking out of Rogue's back. As he made his way towards them, Logan retracted his claws, evidently shocked and upset by what he just did as Kurt caught the girl in his arms before she could fall. Quickly inspecting the wounds, Kurt swore when he realised that Rogue's lung had been pierced whilst the middle stab wound just barely missed her heart.

'_JEAN!'_ Kurt yelled mentally not caring whoever else that had telepathy he had woken up. _'Untangle yourself from Scott and get to Logan's room now!'_

"Can't you help her?!" Logan nearly pleaded as he looked on helplessly as Kurt held Rogue in his arms.

Kurt glanced at Logan before turning back to Rogue who was looking at him with eyes that just screamed 'help me'.

"_I_ can't" Kurt whispered as an insane idea came to mind. Grabbing one of Rogue's nearly lifeless arms he made her press her hand onto Logan's head. "But _you_ can"

Logan was about to ask what he meant before becoming strangely silent as Rogue's absorption ability came into play. As Kurt watched amazed as the entry and exit wounds started to disappear, the sound of running footsteps could be heard. Turning to see the door, Kurt was surprised to see some of the kids had gathered outside the room.

"Back to your rooms!" He barked at them not caring if he scared them or not at the moment.

The kids, no doubt scared at Kurt's tone, quickly scarpered off to their rooms whilst Jean, Scott and Ororo ran into the room only to stop in their tracks at the sight before them. Kurt quickly turned his attention back to Rogue, just in time to see the last of her wounds disappear into nothing. When Rogue, now fully healed and conscious of what she was doing, removed her hand from Logan's head Logan collapsed as if having a fit. Upset by what she might have done to him, she buried her face into Kurt's chest whilst Kurt tightened his own grip on the upset girl.

"Take care of him!" He ordered, not caring for the chain of command right now, before teleporting to his room and taking Rogue with him.

"It was an accident" Rogue mumbled whilst Kurt grabbed one of his trench coats and wrapped it round the girl before teleporting them onto the bed. "He was havin a naht-mare an I...I-"

"Calm down fraulien" Kurt whispered as he rubbed the distraught girl's back with one hand whilst his other arm and tail wrapped themselves protectively around her. "If he is as stubborn as he is tough, zen he vill be fine by morning"

Rogue quietened down as sleep began to take over her. Wrapping herself more securely in the trench coat Kurt had given her, she fell into a peaceful slumber; the last of her strength leaving her as she whispered three words that sent Kurt's heart a flutter. "Thank you, brother"

Several hours later when dawn started peeking out over the trees, Kurt managed to stumble from his room leaving his peacefully sleeping sister to get some more rest. He barely took three steps before he saw Logan walking towards him, worry etched deep into his features.

"She is fine" Kurt whispered tiredly to the man making the worry dissolve into relief.

"Thanks" Logan said as he clasped one of Kurt's shoulders. "If it weren't for you and Rogue's power..."

"Just try und restrain yourself next time" Kurt said as he batted away the arm before starting to walk away again. "No vonder you cannot get a girl if you go about like zat all ze time"

Logan shook his head as he watched the elf slowly walk away. The Professor had explained to him about what had happened and he could not help but feel grateful to the elf for helping who was probably the first person to ever manage to worm their way into his heart. It was either that or he had a soft spot for kids.


	9. IX

_Disclaimers on chapter I_

_This was supposed to be up yesterday but fate seemed to have other plans. Ah well, on with the fic!_

**Chapter IX**

_Sitting on a stone bench out in the garden, Kitty involuntarily shuddered again as she tried to imagine what had happened to Kurt before he was brought to the mansion. So far she had pictured him being burned at the stake, driven from his hometown with blazing torches and pitchforks and hung from the gallows; all old fashioned yet somewhat fitting for some strange reason._

"_I never figured you to be the one for horror stories Kitty" Jean said from right in front of the girl making her jump._

"_Sorry" Kitty said embarrassedly._

"_Don't be" Jean said as she sat down beside the girl. "Just try not to broadcast your thoughts worldwide too often"_

_Kitty looked away. It had been bad enough that Jean had seen what she was thinking, but to realise that she was literally broadcasting her thoughts for all telepaths to see was making her want to hide in her room for the rest of her days._

"_So what's troubling you?" Jean asked after a few minutes of silence. "Normally, whenever we meet, you're always going on about either how great your day had been or a certain elf"_

_Kitty could not believe what she was hearing. Apparently even her big sister thought that she had a crush on Kurt. Yet for some reason, she could not find it in herself to tell her she was wrong._

"_Well, it's about Kurt- but not _that way_ about him" Kitty started before telling Jean about what she had heard Miss Munroe say about her favourite blue elf. "And now I can't help but wonder what had happened in his past, but I don't want to ask in case it ruins what we've got"_

_Jean smiled reassuringly at the young girl beside her. She had seen how close the two of them had became over the week and had actually begun wondering when Kitty would attempt to ask about Kurt's past and get to _know _him__._

"_All you can do is ask and hope for the best. Just the same as asking someone you like, out on a date and such" She said before standing up and walking off. "Why don't you ask him tonight? He's got his own room so privacy won't be an issue"_

"_And if Jube's and Amara tease me when they find out?" Kitty threw back._

_~Prank them like you did last time they did~ Jean mentally replied causing Kitty to blush slightly._

_*~#~*_

Despite it being a warm day, Rogue attempted to wrap herself tighter in the dark green trench coat Kurt had allowed her to keep as she sat on her own on a wooden bench underneath one of the many trees in the mansions garden. Ever since she woke up in her brother of sort's room, she had been plagued with visions of what she did the night before. After quickly changing out of her nightgown into something more casual, as well as taking the trench coat with her, she had snuck outside to where she was now unable to face anyone after what had happened.

"Rogue!"

Rogue jumped when she heard Bobby call out her name from behind the bench. As he came into view, she almost asked why he was cutting class before remembering classes were now finished for the day.

"Hi bobby" She whispered as he sat down beside her. She had been wondering why he and Kitty had not tried to make contact with her earlier than now.

"Rogue, what did you do?" Bobby asked. There was none of his usual charm that Rogue liked about him, just concern and...anger? "They say that you're _stealing_ other mutants' powers"

"No! I _borrowed_ his power" Rogue explained although technically it was actually Kurt who made her borrow Logan's power.

"You _never_ use your power against another mutant" Bobby cut over her almost snarling in the process.

"I had no choice" Rogue replied weakly. "If Kurt didn't do that then-"

"If I were you I'd get myself outta here" Bobby interrupted again.

Rogue was stunned by what he had just said and almost could not bear to ask what he meant. Bobby however elaborated for her regardless.

"The students here are freaked" He explained. "Kurt's truly ashamed of what he's done and Professor Xavier's furious. I don't know what he'll do with you"

Rogue could not speak. Even Kurt was appalled by what had happened despite being the one to comfort her.

"I think it'll be easier on your own"

He was right, it was why Rogue had left her parents house not even twenty four hours after she had put her first boyfriend into a coma. Quickly getting up off the bench, Rogue took one last look at the boy she had fallen in love with before walking at a swift pace to her dorms for what little money she had left before leaving a place she had thought she could call home.

Watching her leave, Bobby smiled rather sinisterly seeing that his first objective had been accomplished. Getting off the bench, he made his way towards the mansion so that when the X-men chased after her he would be in a better position to complete the second half of his mission. Hopefully he would be finished before _he_ arrived unexpectedly at their door. Not once did he notice a girl, perhaps just a year younger than him, stare at him suspiciously from the nearby tree she had phased herself into as she watched the girl who had been sitting on the bench moments ago.

*~#~*

"What are you up to Eric?" Xavier mumbled to himself as he went over the conversation that had occurred yesterday as he and the X-men found out about Logan's unique skeletal structure particularly what Kurt had speculated. "What would bring you to killing a young girl? It's strange"

"Out of the two of them, she is more suitable for Magneto's schemes than _him_" Scott put in.

"You don't like him" Xavier said straight out of the blue.

A wry grin appeared on Scott's face as he turned to look at his mentor. "How can you tell?" He asked sarcastically.

"Well, _I am _psychic, you know" Xavier answered without looking at his former pupil as a grin found its way onto his face before disappearing when Logan and Ororo suddenly came through the door to the med lab with troubled thoughts that he could pick up without probing.

"Where is she?" Logan asked bluntly not caring if he was rude.

"Who?" Scott asked before Xavier cut in.

"Rogue" He said softly as he made a quick sweep of mansion and the surrounding grounds with his powers. "She's gone"

Not even minutes later was Xavier, Logan and the whole X-men team gathered before a large vault like door with a blue LED in its centre that was eye level with the Professor. The LED was actually a retinal scanner keyed in to only Xavier's retina pattern due to what lay behind the door was his greatest invention.

"Welcome to _Cerebro_" He said as he wheeled into, what Logan thought was, the inside of a giant sphere towards a desk in its core and picked up some sort of helmet and placed it over its head. "This device amplifies my power, allowing me to locate mutants across great distances. This is how I'll find Rogue"

Logan's slightly raised eyebrows rose a fraction more when he looked over the edge of the walkway to see that it was not a half-sphere he was in, but a _whole-_sphere. With the whispers of distant minds echoing around him, Logan could not help but feel that he was in the centre of the Earth itself.

"Why don't you use it to find Magneto instead?" Logan asked as he reached the Professor's location.

"Apparently, he's found a way to shield himself from it" Xavier admitted. "Since he helped me create Cerebro, it's quite impossible to figure out how"

Before he realised it, Logan suddenly found himself _outside_ the chamber due to Jean telekinetically pulling him out of said chamber before the door closed giving Xavier the privacy he needed to concentrate.

"Hey Jean" Logan called out softly to the woman gaining her attention. "You ever...?"

"Used Cerebro?" Jean asked when Logan indicated the closed door with a jerk of the head. She shook her head. "It takes a degree of control and...for someone like me, well..."

"To put it in vords you understand" Kurt suddenly spoke making them all jump as they were not used to him being in sight and silent at the same time. "Anyvon, ozer zan Herr Professor, who uses Cerebro, is liable to come out as a vegetable. I'm betting Jean vill be a tomato"

"Then you'll probably be a blueberry" Logan remarked causing the observers to choke on their laughter whilst Kurt's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Any further banter they wanted to share was stopped when the door to the Cerebro chamber opened and Xavier wheeled out.

"She's at the train station a few miles west of here" He answered the question on everyone's mind.

"I can be zere in less zan a minute" Kurt blurted out and was actually about to prove so before Xavier's next words took away his momentum.

"You can't; your inducer's not fully repaired yet. And I'll need you and Logan to remain here"

"I'm the reason she's run off" Logan protested.

"She's just upset" Ororo said trying to calm Logan down. "She'll be fine once we've explained it to her"

Suddenly finding himself with no more words to say, Logan about faced and headed towards the elevator to the ground levels. He managed to prevent himself from stopping and staring at Kurt when the elf used a well timed collision of the shoulders to place what felt like a key into his hand and continued into the lift. When he saw what was on the key-chain that held the key, he could not help but grin at what the elf had given him.

"Vhy can't I go Professor?" Kurt inquired as Scott and Ororo left the same way Logan did. "Zis is ze perfect opportunity for Magneto to get her"

"Kitty is busy following the person, she thinks, caused Rogue to leave" Xavier explained causing Kurt to stare at the Professor. "You did not think I _would not _have expected you to ask Kitty to keep a closer eye on Rogue without my knowing, did you?"

At that moment upstairs, Scott was looking at the empty space that had once been where his bike was parked whilst Logan sped off towards the station on said bike.

*~#~*

"When's the last time you saw her?" Roberto asked Bobby as the two of them and John headed down the hallway. They were talking about Rogue's sudden disappearance.

"I was supposed to find and talk to her during lunch" Bobby said which was nearly six hours ago.

As the three of them continued down the hall, a second, identical, Bobby suddenly appeared out of a hidden doorway that went to the underground level. Seeing that the coast was clear, the second Bobby walked back into the passage and towards the door of the Cerebro chamber.

Several seconds later, Kitty suddenly came through the wall of the passage and looked around for the second Bobby. She knew she should have stuck with Rogue but the Bobby she was currently following was not the Bobby she knew so she decided to tail him. Coming onto the main hallway, Kitty barely managed to stop from ploughing head first into Kurt.

"Vhat are you doing here?" He asked both sternly yet softly at the same time.

"I was following Bobby but I lost him" Kitty explained as she looked round for the aforementioned teen.

"I'll look for him down here, you head back upstairs" Kurt instructed.

Kitty nodded and made to do so before a sudden thought struck her. Usually, no matter the situation, Kurt would always managed to find a way of inserting humour into the mix yet just now he was strict and to the point. She was about to turn round and confront him when suddenly Kurt appeared at the other end of the hall in a cloud of sulphur, but she had not heard him teleport _away_. The Kurt at the end of the hall took one look at her and the Kurt behind her before trying to tell her something before she was struck in the back of the head into unconsciousness.

The moment he saw Kitty get knocked out by the imposter, Kurt charged towards them only to be knocked out when his doppelganger threw some sort of stun grenade at him rendering him unconscious.

_#~*~#_

_Review if possible_

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space (especially on the twenty-fifth for a nice surprise) & peace out_


	10. X

_Disclaimers on chapter I_

**Chapter X**

_The basketball flew through the air and struck nothing but net as it went in. Catching it as it fell, Scott quickly passed it to Roberto who started to dribble it down field and attempted to get a three pointer only for the ball to bounce off the rim of the hoop and into Kurt's hands._

_Kurt began to move forward dribbling the ball skilfully towards the halfway mark before being cut off by the opposing team. Feinting a pass to the right where Bobby was, Kurt manoeuvred the ball so that it went behind him then over his left shoulder, passed Roberto and John's heads and into the hands of his African American teammate who then sunk it into the net for another two points._

"_I ain't got my Aunt's powers, but I still fly like the wind" Evan proclaimed as he hi-fived Kurt and Bobby as he jogged past them to their half of the field._

"_You're just lucky Kurt's has the skill and flexibility to rival the Harlem Globetrotters" Scott said as he called for a break._

"_And that Miss Munroe is your Aunt" John added as he walked off to his room in a sour mood._

_Evan scowled but said nothing. Despite his five foot ten height, Evan was only a few months shy of fifteen and had no abilities. Whenever his school was on holidays, he would travel up to the mansion and stay with his Auntie Ororo, or Auntie 'O, for a week. During the time he spent there, he would often hang out with some of the mutants that were keen sports players themselves. _

_He had almost immediately latched on to Kurt, looking up to him like a brother and best friend after Kurt had pulled off his _greeting prank_ as everyone had dubbed it and was constantly trying to get the blue elf to play a game of basketball with him as he was the only one who seemed able to beat him without use of his powers. Unfortunately, some of the students felt that the school should be for mutants only and no _normal_ folk should be allowed in._

"_Most powers emerge around sixteen, give or take" Kurt said sensing the kid's sadness. "For all ve know, you'll be von of us vizhin a couple of years"_

"_Bet your Aunt will be happy" Bobby said feeling slightly sad that his relatives thought he was just a gifted youngster until Kurt slapped him upside the head._

"_Ze only von who should be blue here is me" He said causing the others to laugh at his joke._

"_So what's this I hear about you havin a girlfriend K-man" Evan asked changing the subject._

"_Vas?" Kurt replied thinking he did not properly hear what was asked._

"_You heard me" Evan said. "According to some of the other students, you've been seen hanging out with one of the new students. Katrina or something that reminds you of cats"_

"_Firstly, her name is Kitty" Kurt said when he realised what was being talked about. "Und secondly, is it not okay to be _friends _viz frauliens?"_

"_You've been more _friendly_ with her than you were with your ex-_friend_ Tabitha" Scott put in._

_Kurt winced slightly. Tabitha, a nineteen year old English girl with the power to make small bombs the size of table tennis balls earning her the name Boom-Boom, had arrived at the mansion the day after Kurt did and was not at all fazed by Kurt's appearance. Despite getting off to a good start, Tabitha's idea of fun and games was not Kurt's cup of tea to put it lightly so the two of them went their separate ways. _

"_Considering Tabitha vas more of a vild child, I'm amazed our friendship lasted ze whole of four days" Kurt admitted._

"_You saying you're gonna last longer with this Kit girl?" Evan teased digging Kurt lightly in the ribs. "And perhaps, be something more?"_

"_Mien dear friend Evan" Kurt said as he grinned evilly at him. "Are you asking for punishment from ze heavens?"_

_Evan took several steps away from the blue elf. Having been on the receiving end of several of Kurt's pranks the last time he was at the mansion, Evan had no intention of giving him the excuse for another one._

"_Sorry man, but I just remembered that I'd promised Auntie 'O I'd help her in the greenhouse. Catch ya's later" He said before quickly turning round and walking off at a quick pace._

_Kurt and the others waited until he was out of sight before bursting out laughing._

*/#\*

Kurt groaned audibly as he regained consciousness. Rising into a sitting position, he raked a hand through his indigo-black locks as he tried to remember what had happened before he was knocked out. Instantly, it all came back. He had teleported back to the lower levels to see if he could find Kitty only to see her with a doppelganger of himself.

"Mystique" He muttered under his breath before getting off the floor.

Hearing a soft moan, Kurt looked towards the entrance of Cerebro to see Kitty slowly waking up herself. Lifting her head off the floor to look around, Kitty gave a weak grin when she saw Kurt just getting up himself.

"Guess it's a little late to warn you that there's an intruder about, huh?" She asked as she so that she was sitting with her back to the wall.

"Just a little" Kurt answered holding his finger and thumb half a centimetre apart.

Kitty laughed slightly before going into depression for failing her task. Kurt would rarely ask someone, including her, to do something for him. So naturally, she was happy to oblige when he asked her to cut classes and keep an eye on Rogue after what had happened last night in case she tried to run off. She followed her orders to the letter until she saw Bobby talk to Rogue and force her to leave.

Having known Bobby for a while, Kitty became suspicious and made the decision to follow him instead in case he was going to do any more damage. She knew she should have at least mentally told Jean or the Professor what was happening but thought that she should wait until she had some concrete evidence about the person she thought was Bobby. That and she was still angry with Jean over what she did to Kurt yesterday when they were looking for Rogue after she teleported away.

"The good thing about mistakes" Kurt said as he kneeled down beside her and placed a hand on her head. "Is that you know how _not_ to repeat them next time around"

Kitty smiled appreciatively as she shoved Kurt's hand off her head and stood up before hugging the elf in thanks when he stood up himself.

"What would I do without you?" She asked.

"I do not think I vant to answer that von" Kurt joked before gently pulling himself free from the girl's grasp before she decided to retaliate. "Let's get upstairs und see vhat's happened vhilst ve vere sleeping"

The pair made their way to the lift that lead to the ground floor of the mansion only to come out to hear Ororo talking to Logan about something. Staying in the shadows, the pair listened in on the conversation.

"Logan, you can't do this alone" Ororo argued as she followed the man down the stairs.

"Who'll help me? You?" Logan shot back as he continued towards the main doors. "So far, you've done a bang-up job"

"Then help us. Fight _with _us"

Logan stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the weather manipulator.

"Fight with you? Join the team? Become an X-man? Who the hell do you think you are? You're a mutant" Logan said as he tried to reign in his temper. "There's a whole world out there who hate you and you're wasting your time trying to protect them? I got better things to do"

With that he walked off again before stopping and turning round to add to his previous speech. "You know, Magneto's right. There's a war coming. "Are you sure you're on the right side?"

"At least I've chosen a side" Ororo answered as she stood up to him barely leaving a metre between the two of them causing Logan to take a step back.

"Vhilst I vould like to scold Logan for taking a step in the wrong direction" Kurt said making himself known to the arguing pair. "Vould somevon mind filling us in on vhat's happened since ve last met?"

At that moment the main doors opened to allow an exhausted and profusely sweating Senator Kelly collapse onto the floor.

*/#\*

"The machine emits radiation that triggers mutation in ordinary human beings" Xavier explained to the team, Kitty and Logan after looking into the Senator's mind who at this moment was currently down in the med-bay being looked after by Ororo.

"But the mutation is unnatural" Jean added. "Kelly's body is rejecting it. His cells are already breaking down"

"Vhich means he does not have much time left in this vorld" Kurt said quietly. Despite non-mutants fearing and hating him, Kurt was like the Professor and saw them only as people not ready to move on to a new beginning.

"What effects does it have on mutants?" Scott asked curiously.

"There appears to be none" Xavier answered. "But I fear it will harm any normal person exposed to it"

"So what does Magneto want with Rogue?" Logan asked who was currently leaning against the wall with a satchel slung over one shoulder.

Xavier sighed heavily before explaining. "Yesterday, Kurt theorised that Magneto is going to use Rogue for something that would kill her in the process. After seeing him power the machine and the toll it took on him for just emitting the radiation to just fifty feet, I fear Kurt's theory may be correct"

Kurt cursed and stood up so abruptly at that moment that Kitty, who had been sitting on the arm of the chair he was in, gave a startled yelp before falling off landing painfully on the floor.

"Und Mystique probably sabotaged Cerebro somehow after knocking me und Kitty out to prevent us from finding her until it's too late" He said as he paced about both furiously at himself for being right and worriedly for Rogue.

Before Logan could ask about whom this Mystique person was, Storm burst through the doors to Xavier's study.

"Senator Kelly's dead!" She gasped having run all the way from the med-bay.

"The Summit!" Kitty exclaimed causing everyone to look at her making her fidget. "There's a Summit meeting on Ellis Island tonight"

"But how's Magneto going to broadcast the radiation wave over them without revealing it?" Scott argued.

"By hiding it in the Statue of Liberty" Xavier whispered, more to himself than the others, remembering the size of it looked similar to the torch Lady Liberty held. "The new flame for a new world, trust Eric to make something symbolic into a deadly weapon of mass panic"

The rest of the people in the room waited patiently for Xavier's orders.

"Cyclops, you and the team suit up and head for Liberty Island as soon as possible. Nightcrawler, get Logan a uniform"

"Wait a minute; he's not coming with us, is he?" Scott interjected.

"Yes" Xavier answered curtly.

Scott obviously disagreed with the Professor's orders. "He'll endanger the mission and-"

"I wasn't the one who gave the station a new sunroof, pal" Logan interrupted growling slightly.

"No, _you_ were the one who stabbed Rogue in the chest and stated all this" Scott retorted.

"Dammit Scott!" Kurt exclaimed angrily as he teleported right in front of the man and grabbed him by the shirt. "The longer ve vait, the less time Rogue has. Now either shut up und suit up or stay here und _I'll_ lead the team!"

To say that Scott was surprised was putting it lightly, he was actually scared of Kurt at the moment and it was all due to the demonic look that adorned his face not his words. Logan looked at Ororo to quietly ask if Kurt _could_ lead the team properly only for the woman to confirm his unasked question.

"Okay, okay I'll let it slide" Scott replied apparently saying the right thing as Kurt seemed to calm down and let go of his shirt.

"I'll go get Logan his uniform then prep the jet for launch" Kurt said before grabbing Logan and teleporting to the locker rooms for the X-men before anyone else could say anything.

"Um, Professor?" Kitty asked nervously as the rest of the team left the room leaving only herself and Xavier. "Should I just-"

"Kitty, you shall accompany me to the Cerebro chamber and help me discover what Mystique has done to it" Xavier replied to the girl. "I highly doubt you will be able to sleep until they return with Rogue, so you'll just have to be kept busy until then"

Kitty smiled broadly. "Yes sir"

*/#\*

Logan grumbled quietly as he stepped out of the locker room in his new uniform. The all black X-suit clung to him making it hard to move at times.

"You actually go out in these things" He asked as he unsheathed his claws to allow them the chance to unsheathe properly in later fights.

"What would you prefer?" Scott asked as he walked out after him in his own uniform. "Yellow spandex?"

"You do realise, you've given me and Jean something pleasant to dream saying that, don't you?" Ororo asked as she and Jean walked beside them towards the hanger to the X-jet.

Logan chuckled; apparently the elf had an effect on more than just the students. Glancing at Ororo he noticed that she looked a bit upset about something.

"You okay?" He asked her quietly as he walked closer to her.

Ororo looked at him and tried to answer his question but did not know how to proceed.

"First time you've seen someone die, right?" Logan asked and was rewarded with a nod from the weather witch. "I may not be as good as the elf when it comes to consoling people, but I can tell you that it'll get easier every time it happens"

Ororo smiled appreciatively. "Thanks"

Logan smiled back. He was actually starting to think that staying here might be a good idea.

_*\#~#/*_

_Review if possible & 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out_


	11. XI

_Disclaimers on chapter I_

**Chapter I**

_It took all of her will power not to cry as she looked at the mother stroke her son's cheek as he snuggled into her side whilst continuing to play his Game-Boy on the other side of the carriage from where she was sitting. Turning her attention away from them towards the window on her side of the carriage, Rogue gazed out at all the people who were on their way home from work seemingly blissfully unaware that anyone of them could become a mutant like her at any moment._

_She knew Bobby's advice of running away was the only option she could take and it would have been inevitable sooner or later anyway. Despite their best efforts, Rogue had witnessed Kurt and Kitty having a tender moment when they thought no one was looking. Although it made her sad when she saw them, it seemed well worth it when she and her roommates teased Kitty endlessly the following night._

_She was too busy being depressed to notice someone approach her seat until he spoke out._

"_Hey kid" Logan said as he watched the girl's head whip round so fast he was amazed that it did not suddenly twist off. _

_Seeing as she was not going to say anything for a while, Logan sat himself in the empty seat beside her. Rogue stared at the man for a moment before turning away from him until she could gain control of her voice box again._

"_I'm sorry about last night" Logan apologised realising that he was going to be the one to start up the conversation._

"_Me too" Rogue whispered her eyes darting about as if looking for someone else from the mansion to show up._

"_You running again?" Logan asked despite knowing that it was obvious considering where they were at the moment._

"_Ah heard the Professor was mad at me" Rogue explained after collecting herself._

_Logan was obviously surprised. He had spoken with Xavier at least twice and he never thought that the mind reading old man could find it in him to be angry at someone, especially a student of his own school despite what she, or he, had done._

"_Who told you that?" He asked hoping to get first dibs on the person and leave Kurt the leftovers, providing he left any remains of the person that was._

"_A boy at school" Rogue answered before explaining what had happened on the school grounds earlier on without mentioning Bobby's name._

_Logan did his best to listen to the girl's story rather than contemplate the manner of which this _boy_ was going to be punished when he got back to the mansion. For a brief moment, he wondered if Kurt had the patience of a saint seeing as he seemed to be the person most of the teens brought their problems to. Now that he thought of it._

"_Why didn't you go see Elf before taking this brat's advice?" Logan asked._

"_Because Bo-the boy told me that Kurt was ashamed of what he had done last naht" Rogue said almost signing Bobby's death warrant in the process._

"_You kiddin me?" Logan snorted. "Elf would be more ashamed of _not_ doing something to help someone. I'm actually surprised he ain't got one of those private confessing rooms installed in the mansion"_

_This time it was Rogue who snorted as she imagined her brother sitting in one half of a confession booth whilst student after student came and left the other half and speak of their sins._

"_Ah doubt the poor guy would catch a break if he did" She commented after preventing from bursting out laughing and making everyone in the train carriage jump in surprise. _

_*/#\*_

From her place on the tugboat, Rogue was snapped out of her daydream about earlier when she heard the heavy footsteps of the blonde behemoth approach.

"Time to go" Snarled Sabertooth as he snapped the ropes keeping her from escaping before grabbing Rogue and tossing her over his shoulder like a rag doll.

Rogue remained quiet, too afraid to even attempt to escape after all that had happened to her when she woke up. Not only had she realised that she was going to die, she had met a blue skinned woman with red hair who had baffled her by saying it was nice to see her again. The shock at witnessing the blue skinned woman morph into Bobby then back nearly made her faint.

The only bright side to the situation was that Bobby did not hate her although it seemed pointless seeing that she was going to die soon.

'_You promised to be there for me Logan'_ She thought to herself. _'So where are you?'_

*/#\*

"Kitty, would you be so kind as to keep your mind off of Kurt at the moment?" Xavier asked politely. "There is a meaning to the word _privacy_"

Kitty's face instantly turned scarlet when she realised that her mind had drifted to Kurt. Instead of looking at all the complex pieces of equipment and asking the Professor if this was supposed to blink properly or if that was the right way round, Xavier created a mental link with the girl literally making Kitty his eyes. The drawback was that if Kitty's mind wandered elsewhere, Xavier would see where it was going.

"Sorry Professor" Kitty mumbled as she refocused on the task at hand.

"No harm done, you are at the age to be thinking such things" Xavier said and immediately felt Kitty thinking if he was trying to embarrass her on purpose. "I am actually surprised you're not more concerned about Rogue at the moment"

Kitty finished off removing the viral fluid box from the emotion inhibitor before turning to look at the Professor with a confident gaze.

"I'm not concerned because Kurt looks after her like she's his little sister" Kitty explained. "And despite Mr Logan's tough guy attitude, he seems to care deeply for her. So there's no reason for me to worry about her _not_ coming back"_ 'It's Kurt doing something life threatening, I'm worried about'_

Xavier managed to catch himself from chuckling out loud. Even when she was not thinking about Kurt, Kitty's concern for him made her forget things; such as the mental connection she currently had with the Professor.

_*/#\*_

"There's the bridge" Scott pointed out from the co-pilot's seat.

"Must you point out ze obvious?" Kurt asked obviously still angry with him from before, before piloting the X-jet underneath said bridge at such a low level that Logan thought they were about to travel _under_ the water level.

"How are we gonna get passed the rent-a-cops without being seen, or heard?" He asked seconds later.

"Frau Storm, if you vould be so kind?" Kurt asked the weather witch. Seconds later the X-jet was shrouded in fog courtesy of the lady of the elements. "Zat answer your question, Herr Volverine" Logan just grunted in acknowledgement.

Onboard the several patrol boats scattered about before the island, security guards were speculating about an approaching storm as they tried to peer through the fog that was thick as pea soup unaware that the rumbling sound was actually a low flying jet passing by.

When they were close to the island, Kurt shut off the engines and skilfully controlled the X-jet as it splashed into the ocean and drifted right up to the island stopping just before it struck the wall.

"Zank you for flying Nightcrawler Airvays" Kurt said as he powered down the rest of the jet. "Please make sure you have every zing viz you before getting off"

"You call that a landing?" Logan asked as he rubbed his sore neck. He had been unaware of what Kurt was going to do and ended up feeling like his neck had snapped in two under the impact of landing.

"If you think his landings are bad, you don't want to experience his take-offs" Scott said as he got out of his seat.

"Oh yeah, what did he do?" Logan asked.

"Made the X-jet leave the hanger _vertically_"

Logan stared incredulously at Scott in disbelief. "Vertically, as in straight up vertically?"

"He told me I vas given me full use of ze controls" Kurt explained in his defence. "Not mien fault if he didn't tell me ze does und don'ts of flying an aircraft"

"That didn't mean you had to make the X-jet shoot out of the hanger like a rocket" Scott argued. He had been the one to grant him the controls and had immediately regretted it when Kurt sent them skywards at the speed of sound.

Kurt just shrugged before teleporting out of the X-jet.

"You'd think, with someone important to him in trouble, he'd be more serious" Scott muttered as he and the rest of the X-men exited the jet via normal means.

"You know perfectly well that this is his way of letting off steam" Jean reasoned.

"Let's hope no idiot tries to nab Half-pint then" Logan said. "And if someone does, I _don't_ want to be around when it happens"

"No objection there" Scott agreed.

The girls stopped after hearing what was just said; Scott and Logan _agreeing_ on something.

Upon reaching the base of the Statue of Liberty they saw the remains of what had once been the base of the torch held in lady Liberty's right hand. Where the remains should have been was a whole new base in a richer green colour and held in place by strips of metal. From a distance it would barely be noticed.

"Can you teleport us up there, Elf?" Logan asked pointing to the top of the torch.

"Nien" Kurt explained. "I need to eizer see vhere I'm going or be familiar viz it. Plus ve do not know if Rogue is already up zere or ve're just valking into a trap"

Upon reaching the main hall that served as both a gift shop and a museum, the place was empty and quiet, until Logan passed through the metal detector gate and set it off thanks to his metallic skeleton.

"Looks like ve can't take you anyvhere vizoutyou causing a commotion" Kurt noted after Logan deactivated the alarms the only way he knew how; destroy it.

Logan countered Kurt's comment by retracting two of his claws, leaving only the middle one out, causing Scott to chuckle at the man's crudeness whilst Jean shook her head at their antics. As the team headed further inside, none of them noticed the replica of the Statue of Liberty in the centre of the room open her yellow eyes after they passed her.

Stopping suddenly, Logan sniffed the air, his sixth sense warning him of danger whilst his olfactory glands confirmed it.

"There's someone here" He said as he glanced about.

"Where?" Scott asked becoming more alert.

"Don't know" Logan answered not looking at the man. "Keep your _eye_ open"

"Logan" Scott sighed exasperatedly whilst said person walked off around a corner. "God dammit"

Kurt chuckled quietly to himself as he looked around. He paused when he noticed the table they had passed earlier containing the replica of the Statue of Lady was missing something; the Lady herself.

"Logan!" Kurt called out looking for their missing teammate.

"What?" Logan asked as he came into view again.

"For our victory bash, do you vant Heineken or vhatever I can find" Kurt asked ignoring the stares he was getting from the others for asking a random question at a time like this.

"Heineken, why-"

Before Logan could finish asking his question, Kurt teleported in front of him grabbed him and teleported to the upper level of the room before kicking him into a table stacked with miniature versions of the Statue of Liberty making him cry out in pain like a girl upon impact.

"Didn't know he screamed like a girl" Scott noted unaware that the real Logan had just showed up behind him.

"That's not me" He said causing Scott and the girls to whip round.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Scott interrogated one hand reaching up to his visor.

"You're a dick" Logan replied.

"OK" Scott said a few seconds later lowering his hand.

'_Men'_ Jean thought as she rolled her eyes at the two.

"You guys go on ahead" Kurt interrupted as he landed atop a giant mask that was as tall as him. "I'll keep Mystique busy"

He barely finished speaking before a slimy green rope suddenly latched round his neck and pulled him onto the upper level of the room. "Und Toad!" He managed to croak out before crashing into a table full of souvenirs.

"Let's move it, guys" Scott ordered as he led the way to the stairs that would take them closer to their destination.

"Shouldn't one of us stay back to help Kurt?" Logan asked as he followed them. "It's two against one"

"He'll be fine Logan" Ororo said confidently.

"What makes you say that?"

"There was this film he watched that had this one guy take on a man in a suit that could make replicas of himself using other people, the more the guy took down the more replicas the other man summoned" Ororo explained. "After watching the film, Kurt created a similar program for the Danger Room. Took down about fifty of them in the span of a minute and it took about a hundred of them to subdue him ten minutes later"

Logan stared in surprise at the weather witch. "Sounds like my kind of game"

*/#\*

Nightcrawler grunted in pain as he crashed into another table Toad threw him into. Getting up, he tapped his chin gesturing for Toad to try and hit him again. Toad eagerly complied and sent his tongue spearing towards the blue elf. Catching it in his hands Nightcrawler teleported himself into the empty lift shaft that had its doors open.

Bracing his legs against the inside of the shaft, he held on tight as the slippery, slimy rope retracted itself back to where it belonged. Toad barely had time to cry out when he found himself flying towards the entrance to the lift to which the doors were closing courtesy of Nightcrawler's tail removing the locking bar. The inevitable collision knocked him out for the count whilst Nightcrawler teleported out of the shaft.

"Von down, und von to go" Nightcrawler said as he stared at Mystique who had recovered from his earlier assault.

"Think you can last longer than last time?" Mystique taunted as she licked her lips in anticipation.

"You caught me off guard last time" Nightcrawler replied. "Zis time, you von't be so lucky"

"Such confidence" Mystique noted in a silky voice. "Makes me want to bring you down a few pegs even more"

_*/#~#\*_

_Who knows the film Storm's talking about?_

_Answer in your review & 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out!_


	12. XII

_Disclaimers on chapter I_

_Appologies, appologies. I seem to suffering from a case of writers block (that, or I'm getting distracted real easily or my drive for writing fics is at an all time low). Hope you all forgive me. ENJOY!_

**Chapter XII**

"_Who are you spying on this time?"_

_The question whispered from right behind him caused Kurt's head to whip round at such a speed that Kitty was sure it would have just twisted straight off if it went round any further. The elf was previously peering into the Professor's study from the doorframe when Kitty saw him and decided to join him on what he was doing; after scaring him of course._

"_Don't know" Kurt replied with a shrug before turning back round to gaze upon the new face. "First time I've seen him since coming here"_

_Getting curious as to whom Kurt was talking about, Kitty moved so her body was literally draped over Kurt whilst her chin rested comfortably on top of his head. Whether he minded or not, Kitty did not know as she saw what looked like the beast from Beauty and the Beast in the study; the only differences were that this one was blue and was wearing a suit._

"_He's definitely been like that for a while" Kitty noted. "I'm guessing late thirties, early forties"_

"_Is that your way of saying you prefer older men?" Kurt could not help but ask only to receive the girl's knee in his ribs._

"_I prefer men within five years of my age and very flexible" Kitty countered causing Kurt's eyes to widen as he wondered about what she was implying. It was fortunate that he could not see her at the moment as she was blushing slightly at having revealed her preference by pure accident._

"_Any idea what they're talking about in there?" She asked quickly returning to the main topic as she looked at the furry beast converse with the Professor, Miss Munroe and Jean._

"_I could go in for a closer look" Kurt suggested and Kitty did not have to look at his face to see the mischievous grin that was now plastered on his face._

"_I must say Charles, you're school seems to be more thriving since I was here last" Hank said as he accepted the cup of tea Ororo gave him._

"_As much as I would like to accept your praise Hank" Xavier said before taking a quick sip of his tea. "The credit goes to one of our new students, Kurt Wagner"_

"_Sounds like quite the fellow" Hank speculated after taking a sip of his own tea._

"_You have no idea" Jean said as she shook her head whilst remembering all the antics Kurt got up to causing Ororo to stifle a chuckle._

_Hank however, seemed oblivious to what the telepath was implying."Will it be possible to meet this Mister Wagner fellow whilst I am here this afternoon?"_

"_I suppose I should first tell that he'll prefer it if you just call him Kurt" Xavier began as a smile began making its way onto his face for no apparent reason. "As for meeting him, you just have to incline your head towards the ceiling"_

_Confused, Hank looked up like the Professor suggested and nearly spilt his tea when he saw a nervously grinning blue skinned man hanging from the chandelier by his feet._

"_Um, guten tag everyone?" Kurt chuckled weakly whilst Jean and Ororo fought to control their laughter at the blue elf being caught by the Professor of all people._

"_Good day to you too, young man" Hank said as he stood up and offered his hand to the hanging elf. "Hank McCoy and its safe for me to assume that you are Kurt Wagner, correct?"_

"_Very safe" Kurt answered as he went from hanging by his feet to just his tail allowing him to shake Hank's hand more easily."At least, until you get to know me"_

_Hank could not help but bark out laughing at that last sentence. "I never thought I would ever see someone so cheerful despite looking like a monster from some horror story; no offense"_

"_You don't have to worry about offending him Hank" Jean assured him smirking slightly. "However, say that in front of Kitty, well the last person who offended her boyfriend is still traumatised by the experience"_

"_Kurt _is not_ my boyfriend, and I haven't put anyone in the sick bay because they said something cruel to him!" Kitty exclaimed as she suddenly phased out of the wall behind her. Suddenly her eyes widened as she realised that she had just been tricked into revealing herself. "Oops"_

"_Well" Hank said as he chuckled lightly. "You Miss, sure do bring new meaning to the saying 'popping up unexpectedly'"_

_Kitty just smiled and looked up at Kurt who was still hanging from the chandelier by his tail. "What can I say, I learned from the master of popping up unexpectedly"_

*/#\*

Kitty yelped in pain as she went flying into a wall courtesy of Nightcrawler. Slowly getting up, she looked tearfully at the elf who did not even bat an eyelid at the sight before him.

"Please drop the act before I have to hurt you even more in that form" Nightcrawler said to the girl in a tired tone and was rewarded with the girl before him turning back into the opponent he was facing moments ago.

"I didn't think you could be so cold, so..._demonic_" Mystique said as she stood up properly and licked her lips. "Makes me wish you were on Magneto's side"

Nightcrawler suppressed a shiver at the last part. "Whilst I understand your hatred for what the normal masses have done to scar you in the past, we really have nothing in common. Plus you're old enough to be mien mother" He added as an afterthought making Mystique chuckle.

"So you prefer young girls instead then?" She asked before morphing into a twelve year old girl and smiling sweetly at him.

"That's _too_ young" Nightcrawler replied getting thrown off guard by the sudden move for a second.

It was enough for Mystique, still in child form, close the gap and perform a spinning roundhouse kick. Morphing as she spun round, Nightcrawler was just barely able to drop onto his right hand making the rest of his body lie horizontal in the air as the kick soared over his head. Using the momentum, Nightcrawler attempted to strike the lithe woman with a couple of savage kicks only for Mystique to expertly block them before trying to kick him again only to get stopped by his right leg in a kickboxing style guard.

"I take it back, you're better off on Xavier's side" Mystique said as the two of them slowly circled one another. "You're more fun to fight than to love"

"Something we agree on; that's a first" Nightcrawler noted before they began the next round.

*/#\*

Finally reaching the top of the spiral staircase, the rest of the X-men found themselves staring at a gaping hole in the Lady's head allowing them to see the torch where Rogue and Magneto's conversion device was stored. They were wary however as they had yet to run into Magneto and Sabertooth.

"Everybody, get out of here" Wolverine suddenly demanded out of the blue.

"What's wrong?" Storm asked looking at the man who was standing like a statue as he looked up through the hole.

"I can't move" Wolverine replied. For the last few seconds, Wolverine had suddenly felt his body remain where it was no matter how hard he tried.

All of a sudden, pieces of the frame that held the Lady's form in shape suddenly broke from their moorings and connected Cyclops, Jean and Storm to the wall of the room whilst Wolverine was slammed onto the wall as if thrown by an invisible hand. Once they were securely fastened to the wall, Magneto floated in through the hole and land lightly on the ground.

"My brothers, welcome" He greeted the X-men as if meeting them at the front door to his home before turning pointedly to Wolverine. "And you, lets point those caws in a _safer_ direction shall we?"

Making a motion with his hand, Magneto made Wolverine's arms cross with his fists pointing against his chest then kept them in place with another strip of copper frame. As this was happening, Sabertooth dropped down from the hole and made his way over to where Jean and Cyclops were bound side by side and looking at one another.

"Better close your eyes" Magneto advised Cyclops as the blonde behemoth removed the ruby quartz visor that allowed him to see albeit through different shades of red.

"Storm, fry 'em" Cyclops ordered.

"Oh yes. A bolt of lightning in a huge copper _conductor_; I thought you lived at a school" Magneto mocked him.

*/#\*

Nightcrawler blinked the stars out of his eyes as quickly as he could so as to locate Mystique before she could get out of his sight. The woman had managed to strike him squarely on the chin with a strong kick that sent him flipping backwards onto the floor.

'_Times like this, I wish I had Logan's healing ability'_ He thought to himself as he got shakily to his feet before finally managing to recover from the blow. However, Mystique had managed to slip away during his swift recovery and was now nowhere in sight. He tensed up as he cautiously looked about expecting the shape shifter to appear at any moment as anyone or thing bearing human resemblance.

When he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, Nightcrawler quickly teleported to the ceiling above the lights not knowing if the person coming was friend or foe. He was surprised when he saw a terrified Rogue stumble into the large room as if just run a marathon whilst looking over her shoulder every few seconds.

"Are you alright, Fraulein?" He asked as he teleported in front of the girl making her jump back in fright.

When Rogue realised who it was she ran into his arms. As she felt his arms encircle her, Rogue's face went from relief to maliciousness as she pulled one hand back then plunged it towards his chest as it sprouted adamantium blades from between the knuckles. She gasped and spluttered when Nightcrawler suddenly turned into a cloud of sulphur and brimstone, effectively smothering and choking her.

"Did you really think that would work on me, Mystique?" Nightcrawler's voice sounded from somewhere around her.

Before she could recover, the Pseudo-Rogue felt something grab the arm that had the clawed hand and dislocated it cleanly before twisting and burying the claws in her own stomach. Fortunately, the moment her arm dislocated it began to revert back into its original form so that the claws were merely the length and shape of knitting needles.

"It's not serious, but it will keep you there until the authorities get here" Nightcrawler said as he walked away from the collapsed Mystique. He had barely managed to reach the base of the stairwell before the adrenaline left him and fatigue settled in; the fight against the two members of the brotherhood finally taking its toll on him.

"Verdamnt chivalry" He cursed as he collapsed to his knees. "This is why... I hate... fighting... women" He muttered before falling face first onto the ground with a painful thud.

*/#\*

"Why are you doing this?" Jean asked of Magneto from where she was trapped against the wall next to a closed eyed Cyclops who, if he opened his eyes, would practically shoot her head off.

"Why do none of you understand what I am trying to do?" Magneto replied exasperatedly as if he was scolding children for the umpteenth time. "Those people down there control our fate and the fate of every other mutant!"

Jean, Storm and Wolverine glared at him. Despite the harsh truth to his words, it was obvious that they did not believe that turning normal humans into mutants via scientific means would help change people's minds. If anything it would spur them into taking more drastic measures against them until an inevitable world war started that ravaged the planet and leaving it more scared than even a nuclear winter.

"After tonight, their fates will be ours" Magneto finished looking smug.

At that moment, Rogue's voice could be heard calling for help as if sensing someone was nearby.

"You're so full of shit!" Wolverine spat. "If you're really so _righteous_, it'd be you in that thing"

Staring at Wolverine whilst ignoring Rogue's continuous pleas for help, Magneto slowly floated out through the hole in the ceiling towards where the young girl was being kept prisoner bound to the controls of the machine that would literally change the world.

Wolverine snarled at the retreating figure. As Rogue's unanswered calls for help became more desperate, he was beginning to lose his cool. Managing to look behind himself, he could see that the framework that was holding him prisoner was joined to the wall right behind him; directly in front of his claws if his body was not in the way. With Nightcrawler nowhere in sight and probably still confronting the other two members of the Brotherhood, he saw only one dangerous option.

Giving a blood curdling yell, Wolverine unsheathed his claws letting them spear his chest and destroy the framework's connection to the wall. As he collapsed to the floor like a puppet being cut from its strings, he could vaguely hear Storm call out his name.

_-*/#\*-_

_For those who might not have noticed, I'm trying to write Kurt's speach more accurately instead of the usual heavyness I seem to give him. A few reviews telling me how close I am would be greatly appreciated._

_Read & review if possible & 'til next time (I promise to try and update more than once a month)_

_Watch this space & peace out_


	13. XIII

_Disclaimers on chapter I_

**Chapter XIII**

"_The two of you tried to listen in on the Professor's meeting?" Bobby asked Kitty as the two of them waited out on the grounds for Kurt to show up._

_After the two of them got discovered, Kurt was asked to stay behind so that the Professor could talk to him about something. Kitty, having been told that the conversation was to be between Kurt and the Professor only, left the study with Jean and Ororo then sought out Bobby wanting to talk to someone who wouldn't blab to the whole school about what she did; like her roommates._

"_Yeah" Kitty answered her eyes not leaving the window to the Professor's study. "Kurt and Mr McCoy seemed to hit it off quite well, probably 'cause they're both blue and similar to monkeys"_

"_Monkeys?" Bobby chuckled._

"_Well yeah" Kitty elaborated looking at Bobby. "Kurt's a chimpanzee and Mr McCoy's a gorilla"_

_Bobby couldn't help but laugh at that whilst Kitty's eyes returned to their vigil of looking at the window of the Professor's study. Bobby noticed this and could not help commenting on it._

"_I really doubt that the Professor's scolding Kurt for snooping on him and the others"_

"_I know, but still" Kitty said rounding on him again."I just can't help but feel that whatever the Professor's discussing with him is gonna be important, like asking him to join Jean and Ms Munroe on the X-men or something"_

_Bobby shook his head at the girl's fretting. No matter what she said, it was obvious that she was harbouring feelings for Kurt and he was sure it was the same for Kurt. In fact, probably everyone at the school knew; everyone except the two in question. _

"_You two won't believe this!" Kurt exclaimed as he teleported directly in front of them making them scream and jump a mile._

"_Kurt, could you _please_ stop doing that?" Kitty asked once she managed to slow her heart rate and prayed that he did not give her a grey hair or two._

"_Sorry, forgot" Kurt apologised._

"_What's got you jumping like a jack-in-the-box?" Bobby asked not as used to Kurt popping up like Kitty._

"_The Professor has asked me to join the X-men" Kurt told them barely containing his excitement._

"_And you said yes, right?" Kitty asked getting excited herself._

_Kurt shook his head looking solemn causing the other two to stare at him in disbelief until he delivered his punch line. "I said ja"_

_Bobby fell backwards onto the ground as he realised he fell for the elf's joke, laughing at himself for falling for the joke. Kitty on the other hand pounced on Kurt and attempted to crush his ribcage and sending both to the ground in the process._

"_Congratulations!" She squealed happily before realising what she was doing quickly pulled away from him._

"_I'll thank you once I find out how many ribs you just crushed" Kurt joked as he sat up a definite hint of purple seen in his cheeks._

"_So does that mean you're gonna be a teacher as well?" Bobby asked containing his mirth at seeing the two of them dance around one another._

"_Not until after I have been through several training simulations and learned how to pilot the Blackbird._

_Kitty and Bobby shivered. The Blackbird was the X-men's main method of transport and was actually parked right underneath the front lawn in an underground hangar. Several times, the three of them had seen the jet take off and land before and they were eager to fly in it let alone fly it._

"_So" Bobby said as if looking for something to talk about. "What are we gonna do to celebrate your acceptance into the X-men?"_

_Kurt grinned his prankster grin. "I know ju~st what to do"_

_*/#\*_

Sabertooth grabbed the prone form of Wolverine by the neck and lifted him up so he could see his lifeless face. Growling at having been robbed of a worthy opponent, Sabertooth flung him out the hole in the roof not caring where the body landed before turning to face a pinned Storm.

"You owe me a scream" He growled softly referring to their fight at the train station where he told her to scream for him and was rewarded with a lightning bolt to the chest instead.

"Hey, bub"

Sabertooth spun round to see Wolverine dropping through the hole.

"You drop something?" He asked holding up his left hand which held Cyclops' visor which suddenly floated out of his hand of its own accord.

Sabertooth barely had time to realise what was about to happen before the visor stopped at an angle in front of Cyclops, an angle that allowed an optics blast to strike him square in the chest sending him through the head of Lady Liberty and plough into the tugboat far below him upon impact.

"How did you fool him into thinking you were dead?" Storm asked obviously mystified as to how he could trick the blond beast.

"Held my breath" Wolverine replied as he began cutting away the X-men's bindings although he made sure to cut away the bindings holding Cyclops' legs in place last so that the man stumbled.

"Thanks" He grumbled sourly as he regained his balance.

"Don't mention it" Wolverine replied secretly thinking that he had been around Kurt for too long during his short stay.

A sudden crash made the group turn towards the hole in the wall Sabertooth made as he left the building. Gazing up at the torch, the team could see the remains of the glass flame fall away to reveal Rogue trapped inside Magneto's genetic modifying contraption. At the distance between them and the torch, and no sigh of Nightcrawler yet, only Cyclops could strike it yet he was hesitant.

"Can you blast it or not?" Wolverine asked Cyclops.

"Not without hitting her from this angle" He told the man before turning to Storm. "Storm, can you get me up there?"

Storm shook her head in the negative. "I can't control it like that you could fly right over it"

"I'll do it" Wolverine cut in. "If I don't make it, at least you can still blast that thing"

"Alright, Jean use your powers to try and keep him steady" Cyclops ordered.

"Hang on to something" Storm advised them as she began whipping up a tornado where they were standing.

For a brief moment, Wolverine thought that he was going to go shooting out the hole in the roof like a cork from a champagne bottle before he felt himself in the grips of Jean's telekinesis. With the grace and skill of a drunken duck, Wolverine barely managed to grab hold of the top of the device. Dropping from there into the chamber where Rogue was strapped to the absorption prisms that activated the device between the fast spinning ring, he made to cut her loose only to find his arm stopping and being redirected towards the rotating ring by Magneto.

As the sparks flew from his claw as they were pressed against the ring, an old yet sturdy I-beam that had been on display in the exhibit down below suddenly appeared stopping the rotating ring with a deafening clang as it jammed between the ring and radiation emitter. At the same time, Cyclops shot a focused optics blast at Magneto stunning him and enabling Wolverine to drive his claw into the emitter effectively shutting it down permanently.

Not glancing at Nightcrawler as he jumped down from the top of the I-beam, Wolverine cut Rogue free of her bindings only for the girl to fall limp in his arms. Seeing her still and lifeless, Wolverine did not even think of the consequences of what he was about to do.

"When I wake up elf" He said to Nightcrawler who had quickly realised what he was about to do. "You better have got the strongest Canadian beer there is in whatever shop you go to"

Nightcrawler did not even attempt to stop him, instead silently praying that both he and Rogue returned to the halls of the school alive and healthy. He watched as Wolverine pressed the still girl's forehead to his cheek almost doubting whether Rogue's power could was still active or not before gasping at what he saw. Wounds fresh as if just been dealt to him, suddenly appeared all over Wolverine's body. A wet cough indicated that he had been stabbed in the lungs before collapsing to the ground unconscious whilst Rogue stood there stunned at what had just transpired.

Snapping out of his sudden bout of paralysis, Nightcrawler sent a telepathic message to Jean telling her to head back to the Blackbird with the rest of the team before teleporting Rogue and their downed teammate into the jet. It would be touch and go for a while but hopefully, if the Lord wills it, Logan would be up and his grouchy self in a few days.

**-*/END\*-**

**#**

**#**

**#**

**#**

**#**

**#**

**#**

**-*/PSYCH!\*-**

Kurt walked through the door to the underground med bay carrying a bag with a set of clothes and an extremely cold six-pack of Canadian bear thanks to Bobby's power – he had to threaten Bobby of being humiliated painfully in front of Rogue to keep quiet about the beverage – and towards the prone form of Logan. Pulling back the covers, he placed them on the man's bare and unscarred chest and was rewarded with the man sitting up with a surprised curse upon contact.

"Rise and shine" He said cheerfully to the recovered man apparently oblivious to the scowl Logan was sending his way.

"You had better hope this beer cools me off elf" He growled as he tore one loose from the pack pulled off the top with a savage twist. "Otherwise, I'll be giving you some new tats with _these_ pens" He unsheathed one set of claws to emphasise his point.

Turned out that the beverage Kurt managed to obtain hit the spot, although for Kurt it caused him to have a coughing fit.

"What's the matter elf can't hold your liquor?" He teased after draining his bottle dry.

"Depends on the liquor" Kurt replied hoarsely as he thumped his chest.

"Well, if you can't knock it back" Logan began as he tried to reach for Kurt's bottle only to stop short when Kurt raised the bottle to his lips once more and chugged it down to the last drop.

"A German _always_ finishes what he starts drinking" He gasped. "Although they regret it the morning after"

Logan chuckled as he reached for another bottle. "So how long was I out for?"

"Just-" Kurt stopped before suddenly belching loudly. "Excuse me, I needed that. Just for one day, it's almost lunchtime now"

"How's Rogue?"

"Fine, better once she sees you up and about again" Kurt answered flinging Logan the bag of clothes with his tail as he remembered having to stay up all night as the girl in question clung to him like the only lifeline she had left. He neglected to tell him that Rogue had also absorbed part of Logan's personality causing all but Kurt, Kitty and Bobby to stay away from the short tempered youth.

"Before you do anything else, asides getting dressed, the Professor wants to see you in the briefing room. Something about fulfilling his end of the bargain" Kurt added before getting to his feet seeming to be holding on to the bench for support.

"You _sure_ you can hold your liquor?" Logan could not help but ask as he held back from laughing at the guy. Apparently it struck a nerve as Kurt let go of the bench and walked unsteadily out the door. Only Logan's enhanced hearing allowed him to hear the elf falling to the floor behind the closed door.

-*#*-

"_There's an abandoned military compound at Alkali Lake in the Canadian Rockies close to where we found you. There's not much left but you might find some answers"_

Those words echoed through Logan's head as he tried to quietly leave the mansion. Unfortunately, regardless of how stealthy he could be, one girl managed to catch him sneaking off.

"Hey" Rogue said when she caught up to Logan causing him to turn around to look at the girl. She definitely looked better, although it looked like she rarely took of the dark green trench coat Kurt had given her that night. "You runnin again?"

"Not really" Logan mumbled as he shifted his backpack further up his shoulder when it started slipping. "I've got a few things to take care of up north"

Suddenly finding himself at a loss for what to say, Logan gestured to the strip of white hair she obtained due to powering the device for so long.

"Ah kinda like it" She replied at the unvoiced question before blurting out. "Ah don' want you to go"

Logan sighed inwardly. This was why he wanted to leave quietly. Reaching in to one of the pockets of his jacket, Logan placed the dog tags that had once hung around his neck into Rogue's gloved hand. "Keep hold of this until I get back"

As he quickly made his way out of the building and through the stone arch, Logan suddenly paused when he saw Scott's motor bike parked near the hedge. Walking over to it, he grinned when he saw the key in the ignition with a note attached to the keychain with the word goodbye written in German.

He was definitely coming back here now. One reason was to see Rogue again amoung a few others, the other to give Kurt a piece of his mind when he started the bike and was nearly thrown off when it shot forward leaving a cloud of confetti in its wake.

_-*/#\*-_

_And so ends another fic of mine._

_No wait! I can't just leave it hanging like this. Or can I?_

_Watch this space to find out & peace out_


	14. Chapter 14

I'm afraid I cannot apologise enough but this is where this fic ends for now (the former chapter 14 had to get removed for obvious reasons). Due to having one too many fics to update at one time, I'm having trouble trying not to rush them. I prefer doing up to three fics at most so it seems rather stupid that I decided to make three more when I'm already at my limit.

To make up for this, there's a poll up allowing you to choose which sequel I start when I finish one of my other fics. Hope this makes up some way

Watch this space, peace out & many apologies.


End file.
